Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/12268284.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      F/F, F/M, M/M
  Fandom:
      SKAM_(TV)
  Relationship:
      Even_Bech_Næsheim/Isak_Valtersen
  Character:
      Eva_Kviig_Mohn, Isak_Valtersen, Sana_Bakkoush
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-10-04 Updated: 2017-10-31 Chapters: 21/? Words: 22536
****** af ******
by illmatic
Summary
     Eva Mohn is figuring out what it means to be yourself. Isak Valtersen
     has an unlikely crush. And Sana Bakkoush is trying to be all things
     to all people.
     They're also American.
Notes
     Hi! Hope you enjoy. A word of warning, though. If you're not super
     flexible about top/bottom dynamics, you might want to give this fic a
     pass.
See the end of the work for more notes
***** CHAPTER 1. Oct 7, 2015 10:26 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/wDQQldU.png]
Isak looked at the giant clock hanging from the wall in the school gym. This
pep assemply was chock full of announcements—items on the schedule, things to
know for the Homecoming parade, game and dance—and the sketch the two theater
nerds had come up with was running way too long. Isak knew because, for once,
the soccer team had a role in the proceedings. They’d gone through a quick
rehearsal and everything.
His team had been asked to wear their uniforms to school. When Isak let his
teammates know, Magnus’ freakout had reached a 5 on the Richter scale. “We’re
wearing our uniforms for game day on Homecoming fucking week! Holy shit, this
is the big leagues! Invites to parties at cheerleaders’ houses are next!”
Listening to him, you’d think getting a pat in the back in front of the whole
student body would result in no less than the utter destruction of the social
foundation schools across the country were built on. At any rate, Magnus was
wrong; it would have to be a cold day in hell for the varsity squad to invite
Jonas’ friends to a cheerleader party. Ingrid and Sara were all but guaranteed
to be co-captains next year.
Isak heard clapping around him and started to clap himself. It seemed like
Argentina and Igor had finally wrapped up their bit. Some sketch about last
year’s seniors coming back to school for Homecoming and acting like Nissen was
a rural backwater. “Okay, and now, we want to ask the boys varsity soccer team
to come up here!” Argentina said into her microphone, waving them over. They
all stood up from their position in the front row, and followed Isak to the
center of the gym.
“They’ve been unbeatable this season, scoring goal upon goal against Berg,
Foss, Kuben, Cathedral and Northful!” Isak couldn’t help a proud smile, even as
he looked down at the varnished wooden floorboards. Around him, the team was a
lot more enthusiastic. Magnus encouraged the students in the benches to stand
up and raise their voices.
“Keep up that winning streak and it’s the playoffs for you!” Igor continued.
“What do you think, guys? Think they deserve a big Nissen roar?!”
Sigurd, their goalie, whistled with four fingers as the school roared and
clapped. And when the noise died down, the team retreated to the left side of
the gym as Argentina and Igor moved on to the next announcement. “Anyway, it’s
Homecoming week! And you know what that means! Homecoming game!” It was time
for the varsity football team to take their place beside the drama kids. The
team was mostly seniors, some of whom Isak shared AP courses with. But the one
he and Magnus waved at, was of course their buddy Mahdi. Although Mahdi was
friends with Jonas, Magnus and Isak, he was spared from the unofficial
cheerleader ban.
The captain leaned into the microphone. “We’re playing Riverbank tomorrow, so
you all,” David pointed from one end of the benches to the other, “better come
down and show them what we’re made of! Am I right?” Roars. “Am I right?!”
Louder roars.
And when the football team retreated to the right side of the gym, Isak
swallowed against the knot in his throat. He didn’t share in Magnus’
cheerleader fetish. He’d gone a blissful two years of middle school and first
two years of high school, impervious to their skirts, their spanx, their tight
tops. He didn’t care that Ingrid and Sara had blacklisted Jonas for the mess in
the summer before sophomore year. He knew that Mari was grooming them to lead
the squad next year, but it didn’t affect him. They didn’t have him looking at
the floor, waving at Mahdi, doing everything in order to avoid even a peek.
None of them were what made this year’s pep squad both a treat for the eyes and
hell on earth.
It was him, fucking Even, the sole male cheerleader. As Argentina and Igor
called on the squad to pump them up for the game, he stepped into position some
ten feet behind Mari. He was tall, taller than anyone in the squad, and so
would unbalance the girls if he were on one of the sides. And, as the new
recruit, he couldn’t upstage the captain. All of this meant that Isak, at the
back of the gym, had front row tickets to his long legs and his broad
shoulders. It was torture.
“Who’s got spirit?” the squad called out.
“We’ve got spirit!” the students yelled from the benches.
“Freshmen stand up, and let us hear it!” One of the cheerleaders said, as she
motioned for those she’d called upon to stand up. Isak was pretty sure the girl
was the only freshman in the varsity squad. It sounded like they were doing a
class competition cheer.
Now the whole squad joined in the cheer, as the freshmen chanted along with
them. “Freshmen rock, there’s no doubt about it! If you don’t believe us, just
hear shout it!”
The squad then moved into some kind of pose that had them facing the left side
of the gym. Isak had tried very hard during the assembly not to make eye
contact; but of course, the moment Even’s skirt swished in the bright lights,
Isak couldn’t look anywhere else. His eyes slid up Even’s body and found him
looking back, a curious expression on his face. Isak looked away immediately.
When Isak dared take his eyes off from Sigurd, the girls—and boy—had already
completed the step and were calling out the sophomores. Magnus shouted in hopes
to get the attention of one of the girls. Isak pulled him close, yelling along
with him. His own hope was for the crowd not to notice the blush in his cheeks
came from that brief glance, but because of the exertion.
***** Oct 8, 2015 19:08 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/wDQQldU.png]
Isak questioned the wisdom of his friends’ anti-football stance, which was
pointless when an integral member of their gang was the kicker for the team.
What good did an intellectual opposition to high school football did when they
were going to attend every game, anyway? It just was not in them to miss a game
that Mahdi would play.
He’d asked Jonas, once. But Jonas only said he had an across the board
opposition to school athletics, yet he attended Isak and Magnus’ soccer games.
There had actually been a brief stretch of time in middle school, right after
Jonas quit soccer in favor of his new love, skateboarding, where Jonas had
refused to attend Isak’s soccer games. He rambled on about the evils of FIFA,
which Isak didn’t exactly disagree with. He just wondered why FIFA’s evilness
kept Jonas away from Isak’s games, but still made it possible for both of them
to play it on the PS. After a while though, Jonas realized no one was coming to
see Isak play, and he resumed attending. Since then, Jonas would make
concessions to his rules if there were good reasons for them.
Isak wished they could be a little more strict in this opposition, just this
once. He was freezing his ass off in the metallic bench, and he figured Magnus
and Jonas had to be in similar conditions. Homecoming games were important,
Isak supposed. It’d be just fucking sad if everyone stayed home and didn’t show
school spirit. On the other hand, everyone knew Homecoming games were rigged,
that it was practice to pick a team lower in the rankings to ensure a win. It
was even on fucking Wikipedia. So whatever.
Isak was probably just cranky. He did want to support Mahdi. It was just cold
out.
A senior girl made her way over to the center of the field to sing the national
anthem. When they all stood, both out on the field and the crowd at the
benches, Isak finally caught a glimpse of Even. The cheerleaders were lined in
a row, the football players lining behind them. Usually, Even would stand
toward the middle, but this time he was first in line. Isak thought he and the
girls had to have gone the extra mile for the game. They were, of course,
wearing skirts and long-sleeved tops, and the white ribbons clipped at the back
of the head. But Isak was sure he could also see glitter in their school colors
following the shape of Even’s cheeks.
With everyone looking into the right-hand corner where the flag waved, Isak was
in optimal seating range to openly gawk at Even, without Even catching up. He
was always stealing glances at school, but Even would invariably notice and
look at him, eyebrows raised until Isak turned away. He just hoped that Even
being willing to wear a skirt meant that Even wouldn’t be totally hostile
to—well, the kind of guys who’d look at him. He could deal with Even subtly
signaling that he’d rather Isak looked elsewhere, but if Even called him out in
public, or worse, got violent, his time at Nissen would be over.
He’d been thrown off balance at first. It felt like he’d just barely accepted
his crushes were exclusively male, and suddenly a skirt was doing it for him.
He was fixated on the skirt. What did it mean? Was Isak into crossdressers? Or
had he been conditioned to find cheerleaders hot, and so it was never about
Even, but a stomach-churning combination of his attraction for guys and the
attraction he was supposed to feel for cheerleaders? Or, most unsettling of
all, what if his past crushes had actually been just a phase, and he was moving
past it and this was a step in between? It had taken Isak so much soul-
searching to accept his crushes for what they were, he couldn’t deal with that
time, that agonizing self-chastising, having been for naught.
In the end, he’d decided to stop giving himself so much shit, when he had so
many other things hanging over his head. Football season would be over soon
enough. Isak supposed Even could always try out for the winter squad, but in
any case, he’d heard through the grapevine that Even was a senior, so Isak
could at least expect next year to be easier on his nerves. So, he liked the
look of Even in and out of uniform. He liked how long Even’s legs were, and the
way his broad shoulders tapered off in a smaller waist. He really liked his
smile, which was lucky since cheerleaders were seemingly forbidden from having
any other facial expression.
And so the singer wrapped up the Star-spangled Banner, with Isak grinning like
a bald eagle had personally perched on his hand. The lines broke up, and the
football players walked onto the field. Isak joined Magnus in clapping and
shouting, and then everything went to shit.
One of the Riverbank players suddenly pushed out of the formation and started
running towards the home seats. He was big, one of those dudes that looked like
they should be playing at the college level, only for his ID to say he wasn’t
even driving age yet. He looked mad as fuck too, white teeth clenching against
pale skin. “YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!” he yelled, before abruptly changing his
stride, so that he was going straight for the right side— Oh, shit.
The cheerleader on the right side. Even.
By then the girls had shaken themselves out of the deer in headlights state,
and were trying to get in front of Even. The Nissen football team, too, were
moving towards the squad, as was the Riverbank team. The coaches and adults had
all stood up, waving their hands uselessly.
Isak felt like the seconds previous to the impact had occurred in slow motion.
Magnus pushing at his shoulder, his own slack jawed stare as he tracked the
movement of the arm, the Riverbank player’s fist connecting with Even’s mouth,
Even’s head banging backwards like a crash test dummy’s. Isak blinked, and
everything went back to regular speed, the girls surrounding Even and that
player in the center of a melee that had several rings of gravity. The players
closer to the center were definitely beating each other up with more dedication
than the ones on the outer edges, who only seemed to want to get in the middle
of it, pushing others aside to step closer.
“Fucking hell! We need to go back Mahdi up!” Isak said, trying to move in the
direction Magnus was pushing him towards. Unfortunately, Jonas was like a stone
wall.
“Are you fucking kidding? If you get in there, you two are getting suspended
for the rest of the season,” Jonas said, holding them back. Magnus and Isak
stared at Jonas, uncomprehending. They were pumped full of adrenaline and being
kept from acting on it. “What we need to do is go pull Mahdi out of there
before a teacher does it.”
Isak and Magnus shared twin noises of agreement at this new concept, and
followed Jonas as he pushed his way out of the angry crowd. For a second, Isak
thought an adult would get in their way, but they were all too busy trying to
break the fight up, pulling people in different directions. So the three of
them actually had an easy time getting to the outermost edge of the fist
planet.
Mahdi, thankfully, was small and fast compared to the average football player,
and so had avoided all punches to the face. He was about two layers deep, so
Isak and Magnus made a small corridor with their arms for Jonas to squeeze
through, and he yanked Mahdi out of there in a hurry.
“What the hell happened?” Jonas asked, out of breath, when they were a few feet
away from the fight. Isak followed them, but he kept looking back. Even was
still in there and Isak felt like shit.
“I don’t know, man. Hatcher saw Even and just went for it. Like, I could see
him getting angrier and angrier the more he looked at the pep squad,” Mahdi
said.
“He’s gotta be a homophobe, getting pissed at a dude wearing a skirt,” Magnus
nodded.
“Yeah, I guess,” Mahdi nodded. “I know some guys in the team talk shit about
Even in the locker room, too. But we’re not going to let some dude beat him, or
the girls, up. That’s fucked up.”
“For real.”
“And now we’re going to get suspended because that motherfucker has an anger
management problem.”
“Hey, at least there’s no way he’s ever going to play football again,” Jonas
said, rubbing Mahdi’s back. “At the high school level, anyway.”
“You fucker.” Mahdi smiled, despite himself. “Had to throw shade at football’s
macho culture even while comforting me.”
“The truth hurts, Mads,” Jonas said, not even a little bit chagrined.
By then, the coaches had managed to take control of the situation. Their two
team doctors were moving quickly, checking up both players and cheerleaders. It
all looked like there wasn’t much to do other than wait for some adult to tell
them what to do, but Isak had yet to relax. He paced around the gang a couple
times, before he took off his jacket in frustration. He didn’t feel cold
anymore.
***** Oct 10, 2015 22:41 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/833lhtp.png]
Jonas had just laid back on top of Eva when she heard Vilde’s high-pitched
voice through the door, calling her name. Her head fell back on the pillow,
while Jonas groaned his frustration. Eva thought she’d go crazy if Vilde just
wanted to complain about yet another way her house party wasn’t going well.
Still, she slid from under Jonas, awkwardly. She picked her top up from where
Jonas had just thrown it aside and put it back on. “Is this about the freshmen,
Vilde? I don’t care that they invited themselves to the party,” she said, as
she opened the door.
Vilde had been resting with one palm against the doorjamb. “No! No, I still
don’t know who invited them, but that’s not it. Eva, two boys pulled the TV
down and were taking it outside!”
Jonas was standing by her side at this point, too. Vilde looked up at him for a
moment, then away and towards the stairs. “I got his friends to hold them up
while I got you,” she rambled, for lack of anything better to do while she and
Jonas stood there. Eva had been a little tipsy, so it took her a moment to
react.
She rubbed her forehead. “Okay, okay . . . Let’s just go upstairs and kick
everyone we don’t know out.”
Then she pushed past Vilde, both she and Jonas at her heels. Once it hit her
that Jonas was following her, a small smile stretched her lips. That felt good.
Maybe she could take control of whatever situation was going on upstairs, and
show him.
As Vilde had described, Jonas’ friends Magnus and Mahdi had cornered the two
boys, her mom’s expensive TV at their feet. There were a few rubberneckers
around, who let her through when she made her way over, but most of the people
seemed not to have noticed. They were chatting, drinking, hooking up . . . That
was good. Vilde was the most obsessed with ensuring her party was considered a
success, but Eva didn’t want word that the house had been burgled to reach
Ingrid. They were in somewhat friendly terms now, but she knew the cheerleaders
would have a field day gossiping.
“What’s going on?” she asked the would-be burglars. “You seriously need to
leave, and take everyone you’ve brought over with you.”
Behind her, she could hear Jonas ask his friends where Isak was. Magnus
shrugged and shook his head. “I saw him go out on the backyard,” Mahdi said.
“We don’t want any trouble,” one of the guys said, the shorter one.
“Just get out—” Jonas cut in, attempting to loom over her shoulder. Eva put her
hand on his arm. She had this! She did.
“Leave,” she said, pushing herself up to her full height. Magnus and Mahdi were
already moving aside to let them go, the TV all but forgotten. It seemed like
Eva had sorted everything out, but then Jonas chose that moment to tap Magnus’
shoulder. Both his friends turned their heads towards him.
“Let’s go find Isak,” Jonas said, pointing his thumb behind himself. The boys
nodded.
“You got this?” Mahdi asked her, but he was following Magnus and Jonas through
the living room.
When she turned back around, the wolves of Hartvig Nissen gave her twin deer in
headlights looks. Eva thought she probably matched them. It was her and Vilde
against them—where were Sana and Chris, anyway?—and they just didn’t seem as
threatening as three boys. They stared at each other, for a minute, and then
Eva noticed the one with the snapback glancing at the floor. The TV was sliding
down the wall, where they’d propped it.
“No!” she yelled, throwing herself between it and the boys. “Just leave
already!” she pushed on their chests, becoming more and more agitated the
longer they stayed in her house. They finally started to move in the direction
of the front door. Eva relaxed, but then a voice on the other side stopped them
all short.
“Maybe you should turn your pockets over before you leave,” a blonde, tall girl
with a German accent said. Eva had never seen her before.
The boys, who up until then had looked just about as drunk and out of it as Eva
had been before Vilde interrupted her, finally shook off their lethargy. “Move,
bitch,” the shorter one said, trying to push the new girl aside. A flash
suddenly went off, which made Eva shut her eyes. When she opened them again,
she realized the girl had had a phone out the whole time.
“Sorry, I should’ve told you to say cheese first. But I think this will make it
easy for the police to identify you, no?” the girl smiled. She pocketed her
phone, just as quick.
“Fucking hell! Give me that phone!” the shorter dude lunged at the girl, and
out of the corner of her eye, Eva saw Sana swooping in from nowhere. She shoved
the guy from the side.
Chris wasn’t far behind, and then, two more girls Eva had seen around. The
thieves were outnumbered.
                                      ***
By the time they were done, Eva had rescued some electronics from the guys’
pockets and the house looked like a tornado had wrecked it. Everyone aside from
Eva’s friends and the new girl had left. Jonas had given her a one armed hug
and kissed her cheek before leaving with his bros, and Eva had pouted at his
retreating figure. She’d really wanted to get laid tonight. Just her luck not
to have any fun before the cleanup.
She looked back at the table that the girls were sitting around. “I still have
their picture, if you want to tell the police,” the girl said.
Eva sighed. “No, that’s okay. They probably won’t do anything, since they
didn’t actually steal anything in the end.” She laid back on the chair,
dropping her neck so that she was looking at the ceiling. She was exhausted.
“But that was really cool what you did,” she said, sitting back up.
“Thanks. I’m Noora, by the way.”
“Eva.” One by one, Eva’s friends introduced themselves. “Where are you from?”
“I’m from Norway. I’m a foreign exchange student at Hartvig Nissen.”
“Just call it Nissen, we all do,” Chris said, waving her hand and nodding at
her.
“Nissen, then.”
“Wait. If you’re an exchange student and you’re from Norway, you’re staying
with the Magnussons, aren’t you?” Sana’s brain always worked the quickest out
of all of them.
“Yeah. I didn’t know people knew about them.”
“Of course we do! They’re so rich. But I feel really bad for you. You won’t get
to meet William because he left for college this year. He was accepted to
Wharton.” At Noora’s blank look, Vilde added, “It’s a private Ivy League in
Pennsylvania. It’s so famous! A lot of rich people went there.”
“William? That’s their son, right, the one with the hair?” Noora pulled some of
her hair from behind her ears, and pushed it over her face. Yeah, that was
pretty much William’s style. “I’ve seen his picture. They have some family
portraits in the sitting room and on the walls.”
“Yes! Being seen with William made all the exchange students really popular.
But don’t worry, even though you’re not William’s student, you have us.” Vilde
put her hand over Noora’s clasped ones.
Eva thought she saw Noora give Vilde a skeptical look, but she turned her head
and regarded Eva, Sana and Chris in turn, slowly. “I’m pretty sure I prefer you
girls.”
She smiled, and Eva felt instantly at ease. She really liked the way Noora’s
bright red lipstick looked against her skin.
***** Oct 11, 2015 13:12 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/833lhtp.png]
                                     Jonas
                                 Today 1:12 PM
hey
                                                                             hi
was gonna stay over yesterday
But it looked like you wanted to chill with your friends
                                                                     I did yeah
Okay good
                                                                    was Isak ok
just really high
You may or may not find puke by the fence
                                                              ugh. Why Isak why
                                          But did you end up going to the dance
nah
I wasn’t going to
And def not after that shitshow at the game
                                                                      I know :(
anyway
                                                                              ?
we’ll hang out some other time?
                                                                           yes!
***** Oct 13, 2015 10:31 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/wDQQldU.png]
It wasn’t like Isak and Mahdi spent their time in homeroom goofing off, but
Isak still felt his absence. Most of the time, Isak just caught up with his
homework, while Mahdi texted. Which was actually very convenient, as Mahdi kept
him up to date with the group chat while he worked. Plans were hatched and
approved. Mahdi never asked him why Isak wasn’t texting his own hook ups.
Apparently, he assumed he did that at home.
Isak just preferred to vegetate in bed when he didn’t have other shit going on,
like practice or games or parties.
But today Mahdi was at home, thinking very hard about what he’d done. And, for
whatever reason, Sara had helped herself to his seat.
“I can’t believe he got a three day suspension. He’s never gotten in a fight
before. And he was defending us!” Sara said. Isak agreed, a hundred percent,
but he was still annoyed. For one thing, it got to him that Sara was acting
like she knew and could vouch for Mahdi’s character so much better than he did.
For another, Sara kept trying to engage him into conversation, and he just
wasn’t into it.
He leaned backward on his chair, almost sprawling, and pushed his pen aside.
Homework would have to wait. “I know, Sara. I was there.” He caught himself
before he added a ‘but,’ which he only felt drawn to doing to disagree with
Sara, for any reason. Still, he rolled his eyes.
“Is he really pissed?” Sara looked guilty, but whether she actually felt that
way was a toss up. Isak knew she’d fake anything to look good.
“Well, you know. He didn’t even punch anyone, he said. He wanted to break up
the fight, but it got too big and suddenly he was in the thick of it.” That was
also what Mahdi had told his coach, and what the squad had volunteered as
witnesses. But in the end, the teachers hadn’t taken their version into
account, and had given out punishments based on past offenses. It was Mahdi’s
first fight, so he only got three days. But that wasn’t what annoyed the shit
out of Mahdi.
“Right . . . You know, us girls and the football team had a disciplinary
meeting yesterday.” Isak was aware, as the boys’ group chat were the second
group to be notified of the outcome after Mahdi’s parents.
Still, though, Sara’s take on the meeting was the first thing about the
conversation he was genuinely interested in. He straightened slightly and
leaned in. “Yeah, I heard about that.”
“So, they basically don’t know when they’ll resume games. The season is all but
over for them. Although, I heard Riverbank is definitely suspended until next
year—” Yeah, Isak already knew all of that. Mahdi had vented about his
teammates being morons who’d cost them the season, because instead of blocking
the Riverbank players, they’d actually joined in. Instead, Isak’s interest laid
squarely with the pep squad. He cut Sara short.
“Fuck, that’s a blessing in disguise for them. They suck as a team. They’re
more concerned about deconstructed protein shakes than actual practicing.” At
least, the Riverbank soccer team was, and Isak was sure the same would apply to
their football team.
Sara snorted. “This is why I like you, you’re as much of a bitch as I am,” she
said, amused.
Isak rolled his eyes. That was the worst compliment one could receive from
Sara. “Is that all? What about you? I see you’re not suspended.”
“We were defending ourselves!”
“And the football team was defending you, no?”
“That’s different. They joined a fight. The fight came to us. It’s really
messed up that a guy started beating up cheerleaders.” There was no universe in
which Isak would find it fair that Even was suspended, or worse, because an
asshole couldn’t handle a boy in a skirt, so he couldn’t disagree with Sara
about that, either. Those were too many times in a row that he’d agreed with
her in a single conversation. He needed to put a stop to that before it got out
of control.
“So, you’re still on?”
“We’re still on. And free on Friday nights for the time being.” That was just
fine, as far as Isak was concerned. With the football team out of commission,
he’d see way less of Even, and the chances of making a fool out of himself got
significantly reduced. Isak wanted Even to keep doing his thing, only far from
his traitorous eyes, who kept sending snaps to his dick.
On that thought, he picked up his pen again. Time to do some work.
“Isak!” Sara called in a stage whisper, sounding whiny and annoyed at the same
time. Seemed like she didn’t think they were done.
“Hm?”
It was nothing interesting, though, just Sara’s obsession with that friend of
Eva’s who was in the basketball team. “Do you know who I saw at the mall last
Sunday? It was that Muslim girl, and her sister wife. I tried to get her
attention, but she just flipped her finger at me and scurried off.”
“Now she’s a sister wife? I thought you said she was her mom.” Isak meant to
mock Sara, but somehow that just got her going.
“I mean, it could still be. She kinda acts like a mom. I took a picture of them
if you wanna see,” she was already huddling closer to Isak and unlocking her
phone.
Isak looked at the homeroom teacher, who was busy with her own crap. That was
lucky. He really didn’t want to be caught looking at stalker pictures of a
classmate. “What the fuck? No! Put your phone away.” Sara looked up to him,
confused. So she too had noticed they were agreeing more than usual. And she
had taken it as an invitation for further bonding. “You should delete that shit
before anyone finds out you have it. And now leave me alone, I have shit to
do.”
***** Oct 14, 2015 16:07 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/3EGFEZo.png]
They usually met up at Chris’ or Eva’s house, and Noora’s addition to the group
hadn’t changed things yet. Sana would be lying if she said she wasn’t extremely
curious about what the famous William’s house looked like, but the one who was
truly vibrating with excitement about the possibility was Vilde. Still, Noora
had said her host mom was going to be home all day and she always wanted to do
things with Noora if they were both home. So Chris had volunteered her house
again.
Sana liked Chris’ house. The living room was spacious and no one bothered them.
And, seeing what was on today’s agenda, they needed all the privacy they could
get.
Once they were settled down with snacks, Sana cut to the chase. “Mari has
invited Noora to a party. This is our moment to strike.”
“I still don’t really get why that’s important, by the way,” Noora said. When
she’d texted Eva about it a few hours earlier, Eva had told the squad
immediately, and they’d called in an emergency meeting.
“Mari’s like, the most popular girl in school right now. She’s the cheerleader
captain. Last year, she was featured in twenty different pages of the yearbook.
Everybody knows her,” Vilde explained.
“You said that, but why do you have to strike?”
“We have to strike. We’ve tried to find a way to raise our profile at school,
and now that you’ve been invited to Mari’s party, it’s the best moment to come
up with something that will make people want to know us.”
“Because of a party?” Noora made a weird face, which Sana could only describe
as self-righteously concerned for her new friends’ sanity. She was not getting
it, but to be fair, she’d missed two years, and counting, worth of drama.
“Yes. Mari will tell everyone you’re the Magnussons’ new exchange student, and
they’ll ask you to join their clubs or teams. Instead, you’ll tell them you’ve
already joined the best club.”
“The International Club,” Vilde chimed in.
“It’s the best club there is,” Sana smirked.
“I like the sound of it. What will we do at this club?” Chris asked, sitting
back now that their plan had been revealed.
Sana knew how to keep Chris’ interest. “We’ll learn about other people’s
cultures, like Noora’s. We’ll look up holidays in other countries and celebrate
them.” At this, Eva perked up too.
“Oh! We could make food from other countries, like pastries, and give them out
at school,” Vilde said.
“This is a really good idea. Noora, do you like it?” Eva was sitting next to
Noora, and turned her entire body towards her. She was making puppy eyes, too.
Noora pretended to think about it, but she gave up quick and smiled, sighing as
she did so. “I wouldn’t just want to learn about Norway, we’d have to learn
about other countries too. But I admit, I really like it.”
“Maybe we can get the other exchange students to join,” which segued nicely
into the second order of business: members. They needed some, and they needed
to secure them as early as possible. “Noora, have you met them?”
“Yes, I met them before school started. I think they’d like to join.”
“Great. We have potential members already. Okay, who else would be interested?”
Sana thought she could get a couple of the girls from the basketball team, and
Eva might be able to talk a similar number of the dance club members into it.
But Chris and Vilde both were too busy with their jobs to join a lot of
activities, although Vilde tried her hardest to be an activities girl. So, it
had to be done. “Eva, we need to get Jonas’ group to join.”
Eva snorted. “Good luck with that. Jonas hates clubs.” This they all knew to be
true. Eva had tried to get Jonas to come to different school events when they
were dating, and Jonas had found an excuse to get out of it every single time.
It was much harder to picture him acquiescing when they were just hooking up.
“And Isak is the same way. He’s in some academic clubs for college application
points, but that’s it.”
“We need to, though. We need boys, and the soccer team was just at the
assembly.”
There were murmurs of agreement all around, with the exception of Noora, who
looked around with mild interest.
“Okay, well, you tell me how to do it.”
“Are any of you involved with them, other than Eva? If we get two to cave, the
other two will follow.”
“Isak didn’t want to tap this in freshman year, and now it’s too late,” Chris
said, waving a hand over her body.
“I can’t keep up with Mahdi’s hookups,” Eva shrugged. “But you know about me
and Jonas.”
Vilde had been looking at the floor, contemplating something. She looked up at
Sana and offered, earnest as she was, “I think Magnus was trying to flirt with
me at Eva’s party. He sat beside me on the couch all evening until I noticed
the boys stealing the TV.” Eva winced. “He didn’t actually say anything,
though.”
“I think we can work with that. Okay, we’re just going to go to them in the
cafeteria and tell them you two are withholding sex unless they all join.”
Eva cracked up. “Wait, you’re serious? Sana, that’s completely insane. Even for
you.”
“Stop, stop. What’s this about?” Noora asked.
“I dated Jonas for a while in sophomore year. He was my first serious
boyfriend. But, we didn’t get together properly, so—I thought he was cheating
on me with his ex. I got really upset and made out with another guy. When he
found out, he said he didn’t know who I was anymore. So eventually, I broke up
with him, because we shouldn’t have gotten together in the first place. It’s
better if we’re not dating, but we started hooking up again this year.”
“I’m with Sana. I think you should stop hooking up with him,” Noora said, which
made her gain a few points in Sana’s eyes. Of course, Vilde frowned.
“What is this? Are you ganging up on me now?” Eva laughed.
“It’s not like that. It just looks like, at the moment, he’s getting all the
perks of being with you, without having to put in any effort. In my opinion,
that’s really inconsiderate. And, from the sounds of it, he’s always been that
way.”
“It won’t work that way. If I tell him that, he’ll say that I’m letting my
friends influence me again.”
“We need more members in this club, right? So why won’t he join, unless you
stop having sex with him?”
Eva looked around for support, but Sana only crossed her arms and nodded
approvingly at Noora. Chris shrugged, avoiding Eva’s eyes, and Vilde just
looked concerned.
“Fine, okay. Me and Vilde—we’ll tell them no more sex, or no sex, until they
join.” Eva looked up at Sana for confirmation, and she hummed her approval.
A silence fell upon the group then, out of respect for Eva, who had taken one
for the team. Although, in truth, Sana was more concerned about Vilde. She
couldn’t tell whether Vilde had noticed Magnus flirting because the feeling was
mutual. The boy would almost certainly expect to hook up in exchange for
joining up, and it wasn’t like the Eva and Jonas thing. Their thing hadn’t
started because of a club. Sana reminded herself to ask Vilde about it when
they had a moment to themselves.
“Damn, this really sucks,” Eva said after a while. “Jonas is the only boy in
school who’ll go down on a girl.”
“He’ll join if he knows what’s good for him,” Noora said, as she rubbed Eva’s
arm.
“You don’t even have to wait up for him. There are really good vibrators that
stimulate the clitoris directly,” Chris added. “Like a suction cup. They’re
called Womanizers, look it up! Orgasm 100% guaranteed!”
“That’s not nice, Chris, you never told me about that,” Vilde said. She pulled
out her phone, while Eva made noises of agreement and tapped on hers. “Can you
say the name again?”
“Well, I didn’t because you said William gave you the biggest orgasm! It
sounded like you had things figured out!”
“William was a while ago,” Vilde murmured, defensively.
Sana noticed that Noora wasn’t getting involved in this topic of conversation,
and sat next to her. It would be nice to be friends with a girl whose entire
life didn’t revolve around orgasms, for a change. When the couch shifted under
Sana’s weight, Noora ended up closer to her and they made eye contact. “Not
interested?” Sana asked, casually.
Noora shook her head and smiled. “I don’t need to be talking about that stuff
all the time.”
“But you like the club idea,” Sana said. She hoped Noora would agree. All that
effort would be pointless if the member who put international in the club would
rather do something else.
Noora hummed. “I like it. And I want to get to know you,” she said, although
she looked up at the girls in the couch facing them. Eva had moved to sit
beside Chris, pointing at and comparing things in both their phones.
Noora then turned to face Sana again and smirked, “But I’m not going to flirt
with anyone for more members.”
Sana laughed. “That’s okay. You just need to smile and hand out flyers.”
***** Oct 14, 2015 18:47 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/833lhtp.png]
                                    Eskild
                                 Today 6:47 PM
                                                                             HI
                                                         can I ask you a favor?
Eva my favorite high schooler
Of course
                            are you picking up the boys at school anytime soon?
Yes
Tomorrow
I’m taking Isak to the grocery store. He’s impossible, he’d keep stealing from
Linn’s stash forever if we let him
                                                                        Perfect
                          could you be a little late in picking them up please?
                                           we girls have to tell them something
Oh?
                                       you’ll find out in due time, don’t worry
                                                                             ;)
***** Oct 15, 2015 14:59 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/833lhtp.png]
They all had different lunch periods, so it was easier to catch the boys after
classes let out. Eva waited right outside the front doors, checking inside for
the girls, and a few yards away where Jonas and his friends had all fit
themselves on a single bench.
Jonas was sat on the back of the bench, Mahdi between his legs. Eva noticed him
and Isak laughing at something Magnus had said, then Jonas pushed his curls
back and dragged a beanie down his head. Eva checked on her own beanie
unconsciously. That both of them owned an impressive selection of headwear
didn’t mean anything—Eva could see Isak was wearing a snapback, himself—but her
chest felt suddenly tighter, anyway.
It was ridiculous. She and Jonas weren’t even dating. As it was, she’d already
broken up with him once.
Vilde’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. “Hi!”
Eva startled. “Sorry, hi. Didn’t see you coming.”
Noora, who was at Vilde’s side, huddled closer to check where Eva had been
looking. “Are you doing it now?” Even though she’d supported Sana’s plan, she
now looked uncertain. Like the moment before pulling off a wax strip when you
know you have to do it, but it’s going to hurt like a motherfucker.
“Yeah. Mari is having her party tomorrow, so we should get them on board now.”
“Strength in numbers,” Vilde nodded. “I think I read that in a book.”
Noora gave Vilde a weird look, but then turned to Eva. “Speaking of that, I
could come with you if you wanted.”
Eva nodded, already preoccupied with what she wanted to say and how she wanted
to say it. Noora noticed that and rubbed her arm. Wordlessly, they made their
way to and around the bench.
“Hiii.” Bless Vilde for her cheery disposition. She could smile her way through
anything. Seeing her friend, Eva felt heartened. If Vilde could do it, so could
she.
“Hi!” Magnus, sitting between Isak’s legs, replied immediately. He’d visibly
perked up. “What’s up?”
“We wanted to talk to you about a club we’ve just founded. We’ve called it the
International Club, and it’s for exchange students and people interested in
other cultures,” Eva said. She hoped that piqued Jonas’ interest. He could
certainly talk anyone’s ear off about foreign dictatorships.
“Okay . . .” Jonas was looking between Vilde and Eva, finally settling on Eva.
“I’d like it if you guys would join,” Eva prodded.
“I’m not into social clubs, you know that,” Jonas said, which Eva knew to be
true. Aside from working in the school newspaper, Jonas had joined Speech and
Debate. That was pretty much it for him.
“I know, but it's not just a social club. We want to learn about other
countries.”
“Like Model UN?” Magnus asked, dubiously.
“No, not for a competition. Like, their holidays, food, the things they do for
fun.”
“But—okay, when are you meeting?” Jonas asked, but Eva could tell he wasn't
giving the idea a chance. He just didn't want to argue with Eva anymore about
what constituted a social club.
“We're having the first meeting next Friday,” Vilde answered from her side.
“Way to twist the knife,” Mahdi said, not quite frowning, but not smiling
either.
“Huh?”
“Hosting the meeting on a game day?”
“That's just for the first week, it's because everyone should be free—”
“But, it's a Friday.” Jonas was super protective of his Fridays.
“Yeah, no. I already juggle enough shit,” Isak said, with a tone of finality.
He looked like he was already tuning out.
Jonas had been fiddling with the straps of his backpack, when suddenly an idea
occurred to him. “Since when are you interested in other countries, anyway?
This is new.”
Eva was opening her mouth to reply, a half-formed idea about high school being
the time to discover new interests, but Noora was quicker. “Excuse me,” she
said, as she moved from behind Eva to face Jonas full on. “Jonas, is it? I’m
Noora and I’m from Norway. The girls have been gracious enough to found a club
where I’ll feel more at home and get to know people from other countries. Can
you tell me what’s so wrong about that? Eva told me you were really interested
in foreign affairs, but all I’m hearing are excuses.” She’d lifted her chin, so
that even if Jonas was sitting on the back of the bench, he still had to look
up to meet her eyes.
A silence rolled through both groups, like a tumbleweed. Eva could tell Jonas
was annoyed. When he turned his face to look at her, she also saw incredulity
in his face. Isak, for his part, appeared ready to throw down with this
interloper.
“Hi, Noora. I guess you’re staying with the Magnussons?” Jonas asked. Isak
seemed to catch on what Jonas was really asking, and now rolled his eyes at
Noora.
“Yes. Why?” Noora asked, turning to Eva with a questioning look in her face.
Eva shook her head. She had no idea what this was about.
Jonas nodded. “Yeah, I’m not going to take life advice from one of the
Magnussons’ exchange students.” And now it dawned on Eva what Jonas was getting
at. As far back as she could remember, the students hosted by the Magnussons
were distant, only hanging out with the popular cliques, and they, without
fail, hooked up with William at some point during the year. So far, Noora had
seemed to Eva to be more low-key and down-to-earth than the girls from previous
years, but she figured Jonas had no way of knowing that.
“Excuse me?” Noora repeated. She sounded both insulted and unsure about the
reason she should be insulted.
“There’s Eskild,” Isak said, pointing out at the car slowing down in the bit of
road by the bench. He picked up his backpack and started maneuvering his legs
around Magnus’ body.
Eva quickly turned around and looked at Eskild. He was wearing sunglasses, so
she wasn’t sure he was looking at her when she shook her head and pointed away
with her chin.
He ought to have, though, because he sped up all of a sudden. The boys watched
him go, all similarly slack-jawed. “What the fuck happened?”
“Did you see that?”
“The street is empty, why would he drive away like that?”
“Bro, did you do something to piss him off?”
“I didn’t do shit! Wait, I’m texting him.”
“Jonas!” Eva said. Eskild had given her an extension, but she didn’t know how
soon he’d be back. She had to be quick.
Jonas, who had been leaning closer to Isak to see how he was wording his text
to Eskild, looked back at her. And, regardless of the way this showdown was
unraveling, he still looked more curious than irritated. “So, you’re not
joining our club then?”
“It’s not my jam, Eva—”
“Then, don’t ask to hook up anymore. If you won’t join my club for me.” It
actually didn’t make her feel any better to finally spit it out. Breaking up
with Jonas the first time hadn’t made her feel like this.
“Yes,” Vilde said, before any of the guys could react. “I won’t hook up with
any of you if you don’t join,” she added. She made sure to make eye contact
with all of them, although the girls had agreed beforehand that Vilde’s target
was Magnus. But who knew? Maybe Mahdi had been interested all this time.
“Are you serious? You don’t want to hang out anymore because I won’t join your
club?” Jonas sounded like one of his papers had been downgraded to a B because
he misspelled his own name.
“Wait,” Magnus said, looking up at Vilde with something like awe. Or maybe
because Magnus seemed unable to keep his mouth closed on a general basis. “Does
that mean you will hook up with one of us if we do join?”
“We’ll see,” Vilde preened.
Jonas was still looking at Eva, with a betrayed look. But she didn’t think
explaining further would help, with so many people around. She felt a bit
helpless and she could tell her chin was starting to quiver. That was never a
good sign.
“Eskild! Eskild, fuck!” Isak forewent his backpack this time, and jumped off
the bench, throwing himself bodily across the space between it and the road.
“Didn’t you see us here a few minutes ago?”
“What do you mean, stinky butt? I only just got here—” Eva could hear Eskild
reply. Isak let out an annoyed puff in response.
“Whatever, let’s just go,” he said, at the same time Eskild casually asked what
the rush was, and could he say hi to Eva and the girls. “No. We’re going.”
“Goodbye, Vilde,” Magnus said as he passed by them. Jonas, carrying both his
backpack and Isak’s, said nothing, but kept shooting looks at Eva as he got in
the backseat.
Eva just looked back at him, Noora and Vilde rubbing her arms.
***** Oct 16, 2015 23:03 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/wDQQldU.png]
They’d found a bathroom upstairs with a comically big walk in shower. It fit
the four of them easily, sitting on the floor with enough space between their
legs to comfortably roll joints. Before long, they’d started to smoke up,
fashioning a bong out of a water bottle. They had a sweet setup, and because
the room was upstairs, it got a lot less foot traffic than the bathroom on the
ground floor. All in all, Isak was feeling very positive about their Friday
night plan.
“Guys, I really think Vilde is into me. Now I just need to pass driver’s ed.”
“What’s one thing have to do with the other?” Mahdi laughed.
“Then I won’t have to drive with my mom anymore. I can drive her anywhere,”
Magnus tried and failed to waggle his eyebrows suggestively.
“Anywhere being her house and her parents’ waiting arms, right after school,”
Isak mocked. Magnus’ smile turned into a confused frown.
“Isak’s right though,” Jonas said, once the whooping subsided. “You said it
yourself, that’s the first time she’s actually talked to you.”
“Right, the first time and it was after I saved her friend’s TV.”
“Nah—” Jonas began, but he was cut short by the sound of the doorknob turning.
They all looked up in unison as Even stuck his head in. Isak’s cheeks became
traitorously warm all of a sudden.
“Yo, Even,” Mahdi called, smiling. Even smiled back.
“Dude, close the door,” Jonas said, sounding annoyed.
“Uh. Sure, yeah.” Even quickly slipped in, facing them as he seemingly
carelessly shut the door with one hand. “All good?” he asked, clearly
addressing Mahdi.
Mahdi nodded. “Was back yesterday.”
Even leaned back, with his back on the opposite wall. He was so tall that, from
their position on the floor, they all had to crane their necks a bit to look up
at him. “It’s bullshit that they suspended you. I saw you in the melee, you
only defended yourself.”
Jonas chose to pass the bong to Mahdi at that moment, so Mahdi inhaled and
sounded incrementally more chill, if that was even possible. “Shit happens. I’m
over it. You okay?”
“Yeah,” he said, looking up at the ceiling for a moment. “The girls forming a
circle around me basically meant the football team got it worse than I did.”
“But that dude was an ass, though. Had he even seen you before?”
“I have no idea. Maybe we shared an elevator at the mall once and I let out a
big fart,” Even shrugged.
The four of them, Isak noted, stared in shock for a moment. But then Magnus
started to laugh, Even joined in, and eventually so did the rest.
“Want some?” Jonas asked, waving a hand in the general direction of the bong,
which Isak was currently using. Even looked at him, and Isak felt a pang of
insecurity, being there on display for his crush.
Even, though, just slid to the floor by the shower, closest to where Isak was
sitting. “Thanks.” He tilted his head and smiled, and Isak passed the bong
wordlessly, unable to make eye contact. “Thank you,” Even repeated, and Isak
realized he was talking to him, specifically. He managed a shrugging murmur in
response.
Luckily Mahdi and Even seemed friendly enough to carry on a conversation for
the rest of them. “Are you guys still practicing?”
“Yeah, we have meets of our own coming up. Not sure what we’ll do about game
days though,” Even said, as he held the bong out to Isak. “A cheer team is
supposed to cheer.”
Mahdi rolled his eyes. “Your prospects are better than mine.”
“Oi! I’m sure the girls will let you quit once the team is reinstated,” Magnus
piped up. He’d been trying to talk them into joining the club, promising they
could quit as soon as Vilde hooked up with him, or the football team was
unsuspended, whichever happened first.
“Or we could just not go along with it in the first place,” Isak said.
“What’s that about?” Even asked. When Isak looked up at him dumbly, he pressed,
“A school thing?”
“It’s a new club, an International club that Jonas’ ex or whatever wants us to
join,” Mahdi said, pointing at Jonas with his thumb. The ‘whatever’ was also a
point of contention. Jonas had made it clear that he and Eva were hooking up
again, but he refused to give their thing a name.
“And you’re not into it,” Even said.
“It’s more that we haven’t been blackmailed with sex if we don’t join,” Isak
told Magnus, trying to punch any part of him he could reach. This was tricky,
as he and Magnus were on opposite sides of the shower. Instead, Jonas, who
must’ve felt called out, knocked the snapback off Isak’s head. The four of them
slowly attempted to get at each other, chuckling as they did so. Ultimately
they were too stoned to really get anywhere.
“That’s a bold move,” Even observed.
“Yeah, I bet it was Sana’s idea. She’s always coming up with the wildest shit,”
Jonas said, somewhere between appreciative and resigned.
“But they had to agree to it. So Vilde totally wants me,” Magnus said, unable
to focus on anything but the impending opportunity to get laid.
Well. Pretty much anything. “Oh, hey. You look like you get laid a lot. Help me
hook up with her,” he told Even. Isak tried not to choke.
Even took it in stride. Honestly, he only seemed amused. “Hook up with who?”
“Vilde Hellerud? Junior, blonde, friends with Sana Bakkoush?” Sana was often
used as a point of reference in their year for two reasons: she was one of the
few students who wore a hijab, and of the few who did, she was the only one to
play basketball, and at the varsity level to boot. Much like Isak, she’d
probably make captain in her junior year.
Even frowned. “Vilde? Okay . . .”
“She said we wouldn’t hook up unless I joined their club.”
“That sounds pretty straight-forward to me.”
“Yeah,” and Isak knew Magnus had only agreed in order to go on another Vilde
rant. “But she wouldn’t say something like that if she wasn’t interested. She
wouldn’t play me. I’ve been dreaming of the moment she’d talk about hooking up
with me. I don’t want to wait until they have their first meeting. I’m joining
the club anyways, it’s not like I don’t want to hang out with her outside of
hooking up, I’m not like Jonas.”
“Woah, what the fuck, dude?” Jonas said. “Where’d that come from?”
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it? You only hang out with Eva if you’re gonna fuck.”
“That’s ‘cause we’re only hooking up.”
“Yeah, but she asked you if you were going to the dance last week like a
hundred times, it was obvious she wanted you to take her.”
“I don’t go to those things.”
“And I, I’ll go to those things if Vilde wants me to, and I’ll join her club.”
“When’s this meeting?” Even cut in.
“Next Friday,” Magnus answered, offhandedly. “So what do you think? How can I
get her to hook up with me now?”
“You know, I think if you really don’t want to wait, then she’s already put
where you stand out in the open. Now it’s up to you to reciprocate, and tell
her exactly what you want.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Magnus said, looking not as if he was planning to hit on
his crush, but challenge her to a duel. He patted the floor around him,
clumsily pushing himself up. “Fuck, I’ve gotta do it.”
“Now?” Jonas asked, baffled.
“Yeah, bro, she’s at this party.”
“Fuck, okay. Wait up, I’ll go with.” Once they were up, Jonas looked down at
Isak. “Issy, you guarding the bong?”
Isak shrugged. He was chill where he was. He’d never been a fan of watching his
buds hit on girls, couldn’t care less about this specific pairing, was
pleasantly stoned and had been in close proximity to his own crush for
something like fifteen minutes without fucking it up yet. Yeah, he could stay
back and protect the bong. “Sure.”
“I’ll stay too, then,” Mahdi said, as Magnus and Jonas maneuvered around the
boys to get to the door. “Not risking a repeat performance of this guy losing
our weed.”
“That was one time, jesus,” Isak shot back. Mahdi was preternaturally laid back
about 99% of his friends’ fuck-ups, but he never missed a chance to fuck with
Isak about the time way back when he’d hid their weed at Eva’s and couldn’t get
it back for weeks. The other boys laughed.
“See ya in a bit,” Jonas said, closing the door behind him and Magnus. And then
it was only Isak, Even and Mahdi in a small space. Isak had pictured this
moment countless times in the last few weeks, although the Even in his
fantasies was usually in his uniform. The worst part was that, even
daydreaming, Isak could never think of something to tell Even. The way they
usually went, they were introducing themselves to each other one moment, and
making out wildly the next. That had always made him a little nervous, but
between the weed and Mahdi filling the silences, it had gone fairly smoothly so
far.
“How’d the game go yesterday?” Even asked Isak, as Mahdi inhaled from the bong.
“Good. We won. You’re into soccer?”
“I’m the champion of FIFA, does that count?”
Isak laughed. “Yeah? That’s because you haven’t played me yet. There’s no one
who can beat me at FIFA.”
“He’s lying,” Mahdi said. “We’ve all beaten him by now.”
“And it took you months to figure out how to,” Isak boasted. He thought he
might’ve overdone it, and looked back at Even to check whether he seemed like
he was thinking Isak was a dick. But Even seemed pretty chill leaning his head
back against the bathroom wall, a spaced-out smile in his face, so Isak was
sure he was good so far.
“Maybe I’ll get to see you play,” Even said, finally.
“Sure,” Isak agreed. And though he was thrilled at the idea, he didn’t know how
to make it happen. He and Even didn’t run in the same circles, Even didn’t know
where Isak lived and didn’t have any reason to drop by. Besides, it was
probably a bad idea to be around his crush all the time. It was only going to
serve as a constant reminder of what he couldn’t have. It just felt so good and
so easy right there, right then, toking up with him.
It seemed that Even had realized they didn’t share many friends either. “I
never see you guys at these parties.”
“Yeah, the pep squad doesn’t like us much,” Isak laughed.
“Speak for yourself,” Mahdi said.
“Yeah, that’s news to me,” Even agreed.
Isak didn’t really want to get into the whole drama-filled backstory,
especially now that Eva had finally figured out a way to get invited to these
parties again. He thought of three different ways to sum up the events,
discarding them before he’d even said a word. He ended up just shrugging
helplessly. “It’s a long story, from way before you transferred.”
“I don’t think it’s as big a deal as you’re making it out to be,” Mahdi said,
because he too had become friends with Jonas and Isak after the cheating and
fighting had subsided.
“For what it’s worth, this is the first I’m hearing of whatever happened, too,”
Even said.
“Whatever, it’s probably just nothing then.” Isak looked down at his hands,
that were joined over his bended knees. What an irritating conversation topic.
“Hey,” Even said, leaning forward and patting Isak’s knee. Isak looked back up
at him, surprised. “You’re right. It’s not like I was there.”
Isak was sure he must’ve looked afraid, because he felt his eyes widen and his
jaw drop. But that wasn’t really what he felt. It was as if Even had uncovered
some part of him, a part of himself Isak knew existed, but that strangers were
certainly not privy to. It was confusing. Did Even realize what had happened,
or was it all in Isak’s head? Was it weird that Even hadn’t let Isak’s comment
go, and instead had acknowledged it, despite the fact that it was literally the
first time they’d ever talked? Isak didn’t think it was weird. He felt a new
fondness for this guy who could rock a skirt.
Even wasn’t taking his hand away. He smiled gently at Isak, and Isak couldn’t
tear his eyes away.
It was Mahdi who broke the spell. “That’s true. Sorry, man.”
Even removed his hand, and Isak turned to Mahdi. “Huh?”
“I wasn’t there, so what the fuck do I know, right?” Mahdi explained.
“It’s chill.” Mahdi had certainly let go of a lot of dumb things Isak had said
and done in the time they’ve known each other, Isak could do the same for him.
The doorknob turned again, and they looked up. Jonas poked his curly head in.
“She shot him down. I’m thinking some bro time is in order.”
Mahdi scrambled to get up, with Isak and Even quickly following suit. “Do you
guys need a ride somewhere or anything?”
“Dude, you’re stoned,” Mahdi laughed. “It’s cool. I live a couple streets over.
Enjoy the party.”
Mahdi walked out of the bathroom, with Isak close behind. Still, it felt like
his whole body was screaming for him to stay. Isak didn’t want to make a fool
out of himself, had hated every time Even had caught him staring, but he had to
do it. He was still in that moment. So, as he left, he looked back at Even, who
was, yes, looking at him. “Catch you later,” Isak said.
“Yeah, catch you later.”
***** Oct 18, 2015 11:03 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/833lhtp.png]
Outside of bed, Jonas was never hotter to Eva than when he was skating. His
beanie down to his furrowed eyebrows, his hoodie up, the slim silhouette he cut
against the ramps. Jonas being upset at her didn't change that. In fact, it
surprisingly enhanced his appeal for her, which Eva hoped wasn’t a sign of
anything.
She'd driven down to Brookside Park in the hopes of catching him there. She
knew he loved this place, and so did the part of her that was nostalgic for the
simpler times of sophomore year. Those fall months felt like forever ago, now.
She approached the medium ramps gingerly, as Jonas ground to a stop next to
her. Some of the skating regulars who were congregated around the area moved to
occupy the ramp Jonas had been using, while others looked at them with vague
interest. Jonas had explained most of them were older, college-aged and up,
still skating, while others were from high schools in the Ames area. It all
came down to their having little to no investment in Nissen high school drama.
That was another reason Jonas loved the place.
“Hi, can we talk?” Eva asked quietly, coming closer. Jonas would appreciate the
effort to keep it low-key.
“Sure. You brought the car?”
Eva nodded.
They made their way to Eva’s mom’s car in silence, but, she noted, it wasn't
the heavy kind. Jonas didn't look tense or angry, but rather seemed to be
enjoying the walk across the park, checking out the yellowing foliage. As they
walked, they came across other skaters, who’d raise their chin at Jonas in
acknowledgement, or bump his fist when they got closer. It reminded Eva of the
time the skaters regarded her as Jonas’ Girl. Of course, a lot of the other
regulars had girlfriends, but Jonas had told her once that she’d been the first
girl who’d wanted to come down to the skate park. Ingrid would rather spend
that time with Sara and Eva, and none of the girls before her had lasted long
enough. In a way, the Brookside skaters were like a second family to Jonas,
removed from not just school buddies, but even Isak, Jonas’ best friend.
There’d been a time when she’d feared her and Jonas’ relationship was
irrevocably damaged in the eyes of this second family, but she’d since come to
learn that most had told Jonas that what Eva did was forgivable.
When they finally reached the car, Eva pressed on the car key to unlock the
doors. She opened the backseat door and stepped back as Jonas ducked inside.
While she unbuttoned her coat, she could see Jonas carefully laying his board
on the car floor, so that the wheels didn’t rub against anything and leave a
stain. It made her feel so fond of him.
“Were you having a good day?”
“Yeah, I’ve been doing grabs through the legs,” Jonas said thoughtfully,
looking down at his board. Then he lifted his eyes to Eva’s and smirked, “Did
you get anything done this morning?”
Eva smiled, accepting the teasing. “I made my bed. And breakfast!”
“Nice.”
“Yes.” And she went for it, since they were making eye contact, “But—I wanted
to talk about the club.”
Jonas nodded. “I thought so.”
“I want you to understand why I gave you that ultimatum. I don’t want you to
misunderstand that.”
“Okay.”
“Well. Okay. I admit, I thought you were going to argue with me about it,
before I could even start explaining.”
Jonas turned towards her, lifting his leg on the seat, with his foot sticking
out in the air. “I guess—I can understand why you’d think that. I want to hear
where you’re coming from, Eva, because you’ve always shown me that you think
thoroughly about things and don’t do stuff randomly.”
Sometimes, like right now, Jonas made it very, very hard to remember he’d do
things like straight up tell her she’d never been interested in other cultures,
so what was up with the sudden fascination. Jonas was so honest, so
trustworthy, and she wondered if she’d ever stop being so wildly attracted to
him. “I’m really glad that you see me that way.”
“I do,” Jonas said.
“I think we’re both thinking of the same conversation right now. When, last
year, you told me—”
“That I didn’t know who you were anymore.”
“Right, and then we talked about that.” Jonas nodded. “That I always go along
with what my friends say. Here’s the thing, it was Sana’s idea that Vilde and I
said that to you. At first, I thought she’d gone insane, that she couldn’t
possibly be serious about letting a club come between two people. But then, I
thought about it. It seems like you think that everything I’m interested in is
crap. No matter if it’s school dances, or getting a group together for prom, or
a school club.”
“It’s not because of you. I’ve never really cared for school dances. Ingrid
pestered me to take her to the spring fling or whatever, and I never did.”
“And that relationship went to shit!” Jonas opened his mouth to say something,
probably about Eva’s role in that relationship going to shit, but she raised
her finger to shush him. “It only lasted as long as it did because you felt
guilty, and she didn’t want to believe you’d fallen out of love with her.”
Jonas didn’t admit to it with words, but he didn’t argue her on it, which said
everything that needed to be said. Eva was okay with that. It was not a
pleasant period to reflect on, anyway. Instead, he said, “It’s not like your
friends really want me in that club. They just want warm bodies.”
“Maybe they do, but that’s not why I do. And neither would they if they got to
know you, but you’ve never wanted to do anything with them.”
“They only care about being more popular.”
“They were there for me during a really shitty period in my life,” Eva
countered, gently. It was true. Sophomore year had been such a mess, but the
girls had always had her back. Even when it turned out she shouldn’t have
trusted Isak, she hadn’t been alone.
“So it comes down to them against me.”
“It comes down to that because you want it to. There are so many things I like
doing with you, Jonas. I liked binging old shows, and hanging out with your
sister, and going on dates with you and Isak. I even liked spending time with
you here, because your skate park family was important to you. But you’ve never
yielded an inch about doing things that are important to me.”
“You have to admit, it’s really fucked up that you’d stop hanging out with me
because of a club.”
“It is. It was really hard for me to do. I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to
do it. I felt like I was going against everything I am the entire time. But, if
in the entire time we’ve known each other, you haven’t done a single thing for
my sake, then, why are we even hooking up? Maybe we should move on.”
“That’s why you went along with Sana’s idea.”
Eva nodded.
Jonas bit his lip and looked out the window. Eva let him. He’d waited for her
to come to him. Now, it was his turn.
***** Oct 20, 2015 13:31 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/3EGFEZo.png]
                                Elias bakkoush
                                 Today 1:31 PM
Sis
                                                                     What’s up?
You coming over this weekend?
                                                                           Nope
                                                   Got a thing at school on fri
It’s not basketball season yet???
                                                                       Not that
                                                         A club with my friends
Ok
I know someone who’ll miss you
                                                                             …?
                                      I saw mom and dad at the center last week
Not them
***** Oct 21, 2015 20:19 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/wDQQldU.png]
                               Sara Norrstelien
                                 Today 8:19 PM
Long time no talk
                                                                             Yo
Really, Isak?
Yo?
                                                                            Idk
                                           I figured you texted me for a reason
                                                         Ready whenever you are
As a matter of fact there IS a reason
But it’s a surprise
                                                                              ?
You’ll find out tomorrow!
                                                                             Ok
***** Oct 22, 2015 7:31 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/wDQQldU.png]
On Thursdays, Isak and Mahdi had first period together, so they’d taken to
meeting out front and walking to their lockers together. At least, as long as
the weather wasn’t so bad that waiting up would cause either one of them to go
full icicle. So when Eskild dropped Isak off, Mahdi was already at the bench
the boy squad thought of as theirs.
“Yo,” Mahdi said when Isak was close enough for a brofist.
“What’s up?”
“The usual. Ready for the game?”
Isak nodded. “Any news on your front?” Sports fall season would soon be over,
and if the school didn’t lift the suspension for the football team quick,
there’d be no way they’d make it to playoffs.
“No, man, I think we’re fucked. That’s the end of the season for us.”
“Sucks.”
“Tell me about it.”
They walked through the building, nodding and waving at the people they knew on
the way to Isak’s locker. Since they sat together, they often just took Isak’s
book into class, rather than carrying a book each. Those things were heavy.
Those were the kind of random thoughts on Isak’s mind, he and Mahdi having
fallen into a comfortable silence. It was a Thursday, early in the morning, and
after school they’d play against New Valley. This was a school that, for
whatever reason, had an amazing handball program, and not much else going on in
the way of sports. Isak already felt in the minority for playing soccer, and he
hadn’t even known what handball was until high school.
“Oh shit, I think I recognize that style,” Mahdi said, when they got to Isak’s
locker. Isak looked up.
There was a poster that covered the entire front of his locker; this was the
usual locker decoration that the booster club would hang on game days. It was
different this time though, more elaborate for one. Isak came closer and
examined it. His last name was spelled down the side in silver glittery
letters. The usual “Go, Lions!” chant, soccer ball in card stock and Isak’s
number were all there, but in addition to that, there was a drawing. It was a
really cool drawing of Isak kicking the ball at an angle. He was impressed. It
wasn’t the kind of realistic likeness that you’d see in art class, but it was
still obvious it was Isak. The hair and face shape were spot on. It was in full
color too, so the eyes and hair matched his own. Cartoon Isak was smirking,
like he was kicking the opposing team’s asses and knew it.
The booster club’s decorations had never included cartoon portraits.
Still blown away, Isak dragged his finger down Cartoon Isak, then turned to
Mahdi. His friend leaned closer and noticed the drawing for the first time.
“I knew it. Even made this,” he said, proud of himself for having figured it
out.
“Even?” Isak hoped his face didn’t betray how exciting he found the idea that
Even had gone through the trouble of making all this for Isak.
“Yeah, I can tell. He always made mine and they had cartoons too. He didn’t
color mine though. You lucky fuck,” he added, his voice now tinged with
approval. “I think it’s because there are so many more dudes on the football
team. He probably didn’t have enough time.”
Isak took this information in, slowly. The cartoon was super cool, but it
didn’t mean anything. Even drew cartoons for Mahdi too. And although this one
was colored in, maybe Even had been bored, having finished early, and had
needed something to pass the time. But the more important question was, why
were the cheerleaders making locker decorations for the soccer team? Mahdi
seemed to have followed the same train of thought.
“Bro! Do you think the pep squad will cheer for your game?”
Isak thought he could feel a cold drop of sweat slide down his back. He was not
prepared for Even and his skirt on the side of the field. Football games had
been one thing, he was a spectator there; no way he’d be able to focus if Even
were to call his name, instead.
“Isak?” Mahdi asked, rescuing him from his cheerleader-induced panic. “Wanna
get your book, man? It’s getting late.”
“Right,” Isak nodded. “You know what, go ahead. I’ll catch up with you.”
Mahdi gave him a long look, but he shrugged and turned in the direction of the
classroom. Isak watched him go for a second, then quickly turned the
combination on the lock the right way. He’d had an odd thought, but one that
had arrived in his consciousness fully formed. Even had left him a message
somewhere.
He looked inside for anything that was different, but it didn’t seem like
things had been moved around. Quickly dragging his palm over most of the
surfaces didn’t yield anything either. Isak sighed, and pulled out his
Chemistry book. As he was shutting the locker, he noticed the blu-tack on the
upper and lower corners of the poster. That was it.
Not for the first time when it came to all things Even, Isak looked around
before he did anything else. The hallway was getting emptier by the second, as
the bell for first period approached. No one was paying attention to him. So
he, very carefully, stuck a nail between the thick paper and the blu-tack on
the upper corner. Then he pulled it away from the metallic door to his locker
and peered in.
He was right. Someone had left a message in capital letters on the back of the
poster, written with the same kind of black felt-tip pen that the cartoon had
been lined with.
SEE YOU TOMORROW.
***** Oct 23, 2015 17:09 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/wDQQldU.png]
Jonas had sworn up and down that he’d make it up to Isak and Mahdi, and that
was the reason Isak had bothered to come. He didn’t care for the girls’ club
and could think of a hundred things he’d rather be doing on a Friday evening.
But Jonas had stood by him through some seriously shitty times, and if Eva had
managed to sell him on the idea of dragging his bros along, then Isak would be
there. Jonas had begged him to come, and he’d have never done that if it wasn’t
important to him.
Magnus, on the other hand, sort of expected that they would all come; he just
didn’t seem like he’d be all that bothered if they didn’t. He was still going
on about joining the club to impress Vilde, which would somehow lead to hooking
up with her. In Magnus’ mind, the boys were there for moral support in case his
plan didn’t come to fruition. Mahdi kept massaging the bridge of his nose.
According to Jonas, the meeting was to be held in the cafeteria, so after
fucking around for hours at Magnus’ house, his mom drove them back to the
school. Magnus’ mom was always willing to drive her son and his friends around,
which Isak hated to admit he resented a bit. Mahdi’s mom was always running
around, needing to get things done. Once Jonas and Thea had been old enough to
look after themselves, their mom had resumed being active in a number of
political causes. Magnus’ mom was their primary mode of transportation. He knew
he should feel lucky, but he couldn’t help but think back to his own parents
whenever they rode on her Nissan Rogue.
“Bye, Mom!” Magnus said, leaning into the rolled-down window to hug his mom
one-armed.
“Do you boys have a ride for later?” she asked.
Magnus looked back at the boys, who shrugged. “I’ll text you,” he said, turning
back to his mom. She nodded.
“Have a good time,” she said before driving off.
“I think Eskild might pick me up,” Isak said, as they walked into the building.
“If he hasn’t gone out by the time we’re done.” The other boys made noises of
agreement.
The lights in the corridors were mostly off, which made the bluish glow coming
from the open cafeteria doors more conspicuous. Vilde and Sana were standing
just inside the threshold, but when they noticed the boys walking closer, Vilde
turned around and waved at someone else.
Eva then showed up from inside the cafeteria, a huge, pleased smile on her
face. Isak couldn’t lie; he was impressed he’d gotten her way on this one.
Jonas, Eva and himself had known each other for years, and so Isak knew what a
victory it was to herd Jonas into a club like this. And whatever had done it,
it wasn’t the blackmail, Isak was sure of that much.
“Are we late?” Jonas asked as they came to a stop in front of the girls.
Were they late? Isak had no idea. He’d preferred to be on a need-to-know basis
for this club.
“No, we’re still waiting for a couple people,” Eva said.
“I am so happy that all of you came! This is going to be so much fun, you’ll
see!” Vilde exclaimed, standing on her tiptoes for a second and making intense
eye contact with each one of them in turn.
“Right—”
“Where are you sitting?” Magnus cut in, already looking at the set-up. There
were a few tables pushed together, and then chairs in a circle.
Vilde began to explain something about how they’d be sitting at the front, but
Isak tuned her out when he noticed one of the people already sitting was Even.
His chair was facing the cafeteria doors and he was looking back at Isak. He
arched his eyebrows at Isak as he smiled, and Isak felt like an idiot.
It turned out the pep squad had petitioned the school to cheer for the soccer
team until the end of the fall season, and the day before had been their first
game. Isak had managed to play as usual, he thought; his coach and teammates
hadn’t called him out at any rate. He just hadn’t realized the hardest part
would be the bus rides. The bus had enough seats for both the team and the
squad, and so the school had forgone a second bus. This would’ve been okay—Isak
could always sit far away from Even and try to avoid making a fool of himself.
Magnus had other ideas, though. He was excited as fuck about seeing Even, and
insisted that he sat with them for both rides.
Isak had tried, he’d really done his best to carry on a conversation, but he
just fucking couldn’t. Even looked like some sort of rare, beautiful bird with
the bow, the glitter and his big smile. Between Magnus talking a mile a minute,
the busload of boys and girls and Even’s unclothed legs in close proximity,
Isak had barely been able to choke out three words.
This meeting promised to be much of the same, with so many people around. Isak
prayed for death, or for Mari’s upstairs bathroom and some weed.
“Bro, there’s Even! Let’s sit next to him!” Magnus said.
Isak decided to pray for Magnus’ death, instead.
Well, he had no other option but to delay. “I’m gonna check out the food,” he
said as he pointed behind him with his thumb. The guys left, and he went to
stare at the homemade cupcakes some, breathing out in relief.
The girls had drawn different world flags on them with frosting. Mostly
European countries, as far as Isak could tell. He did note the American
cupcakes didn’t have the requisite number of stars and stripes.
Isak could’ve chilled by the cupcakes for the entire meeting, but Eva clapped
her hands a couple times and asked everyone to stop mingling and come sit.
Aside from her group and Isak’s, there were a bunch of kids from different
years that made up the bulk of the group. The chairs quickly became occupied,
but Jonas had saved him a seat. Out of the boys, that chair was the farthest
away from Even’s. Best friends were a blessing.
Jonas was on his right, and that exchange student Eva was friends with all of a
sudden sat on his left.
“I don’t think we’ve properly met. I’m Noora,” she said. Then she fumbled for a
second before she held out her hand.
“I’m Isak,” he said, shaking her hand.
“Jonas.”
“Can I ask you two a question?” she said, leaning closer.
They urged her to go ahead. The whispering had caught Sana’s attention, who’d
turned in her chair, curious.
“You see, I was under the impression that Americans had their own way of
pronouncing names. My advisors said I shouldn’t expect things like that to be
like they are in Norway. Girls called Vilde or boys named Isak.”
Isak furrowed his eyebrows, confused. He turned to Jonas, who looked like he
didn’t understand either. “Er, we’re Norwegian.”
“Well, he is. I’m half-Norwegian and half-Chilean,” Jonas clarified. “But
Magnus and Eva and so on, they’re Norwegian.”
Noora widened her eyes. “As in, born in Norway, or . . .?”
“No, but like. Iowa has had a lot of Norwegian immigration. So we still have
the names and the traditions—”
Noora asked something else, in a different language. Isak was pretty sure it
wasn’t Spanish, but he couldn’t tell anything beyond that.
“I just asked whether you speak Norwegian,” Noora said, with a little snort.
Sana smirked. “It’s not like they’re second generation. My family is from
Morocco, so I speak Darija, but these guys wouldn’t know a word of Norwegian.”
Noora nodded like Sana had said something unarguable or, at the very least,
much more serious than the conversation they’d been having up to that point.
Isak got the feeling Sana and Noora were laughing at him, and he rolled his
eyes. Whatever. He’d already figured out this whole thing was going to be a
waste of time. The girls probably only wanted him around for the yearbook
photo; surely he’d be able to quit in peace afterwards.
Vilde used this lull in the conversation to stand up and clap her hands a
couple times. “Hi, everyone! Welcome to this new school club that I, that is to
say, we hope lasts for a long time. Before we begin, maybe us girls who came up
with the idea would like to introduce ourselves—”
Eva and her friends stood up in turn to say their names. “And I’m-” Vilde
paused at this, apparently expecting one of the other girls to introduce her,
but no one did. “I’m Vilde. And this is the International Club. When we met
Noora, who’s from Norway, we thought it’d be really fun to learn more about her
country and her culture. And then we thought that there are also other exchange
students in the school. We have Ryujiro, from Japan, and Eva—sorry, I think I
said that wrong.”
“It’s Eva,” said a girl in glasses. She pronounced the V in her name closer to
an F.
“Right! So Eva, from Germany.” Vilde tapped her fingers together and brought
them to her mouth. “We would like for the club to be a cultural exchange sort
of thing. We will learn from other cultures, and teach about different aspects
of American culture in return. So, we thought we could get started by having
each of us go around and say a celebration that is typical of their country or
their culture. Throughout the year, we will try to do all of the ones that we
name today. For instance, one event that’s coming up is Halloween.”
“Thanksgiving,” Eva said.
“Galentine’s Day,” Chris said in a duh voice.
There were easily 20 people there and, the closer they got to Isak, the more he
knew he didn’t care to be there anymore. When German Eva had her turn and
mentioned something about carnival, he was done. How many times did they expect
him to put on a costume in one single year? Nope.
He turned to Jonas. “Bathroom,” he whispered, and then he just took off. As he
was going outside the circle to reach the cafeteria doors, he made the mistake
of glancing at Even, who seemed kind of alarmed.
An unexpected pang of regret crossed Isak’s mind. Even seemed to want to be
friends with Isak’s crew. He’d made Mahdi’s locker decorations, smoked weed
with them, willingly followed Magnus wherever he’d asked and even given them
pep talks, to go with soccer cheers. Isak now understood that the message Even
had left for him was intended to express Even hoped to see them all at the club
meeting. And Isak had, pretty much every time, acted like some sort of uptight
asshole who wouldn’t say two words directly to Even. He probably came across as
a homophobe who thought Even had to be gay because he wore a skirt.
If only Even knew.
Safe in the bathroom stall, Isak took off his snapback and ran his hand through
his hair a few times. It was sweaty, much like the rest of him. After a few
tries, he gave up on getting the hair at his temples to stay tucked in his hat.
Twin curls stuck out to the sides over his ears and he was just going to have
to live with that. Then he started rubbing his eyes. He wasn’t crying,
fortunately. In fact, his eyes felt kind of dry and rubbing them helped him
relax. He was a mess.
He figured he’d text Eskild and ask him if he could come get him, so he walked
out the school to get to the bench that had become their drop-off and pick-up
point. As he got closer, he realized there was someone there already. At this
point, he was not at all surprised to note that the someone in question was
Even. He seemed to have heard him coming to a stop a few yards away and he
turned around. He seemed pleased to see Isak.
Isak walked the rest of the way to the bench. “Got bored already?”
“Huh? Oh, the club . . . They started arguing over Halloween plans. It kind of
looked like the main event was done with.” Even smirked conspiratorially.
Isak smirked back and climbed on the back of the bench. He quickly shot Eskild
a text and slid the phone in his pocket. “So, are we doing Halloween the 100%
Norwegian way?”
Even laughed. “Nah. That girl Noora said Mari invited her to her Halloween
party, but that Halloween is pretty much the same in Norway as it is in
America, and can’t the club come up with something different? But the other
girls said we’re all definitely going to Mari’s party. That works out fine for
me, it’s what I was planning on doing anyway,” he shrugged.
“’Cause you’re a cheerleader,” Isak finished for him.”
“Right,” Even nodded.
They sat in silence for a few seconds. Isak turned around a couple times to
check if the other boys were coming. He didn’t think they were waiting for him
to come back from the bathroom, but it was equally unlikely that they’d sit
through an argument over which way to celebrate Halloween, just for the chance
to get into Vilde and Eva’s pants. Even glanced at him and then in the
direction of the school entrance. He coughed, which got Isak’s attention.
“Anyway—” he started, and took out a lighter and a fucking joint from one of
the inside pockets of his jacket. Isak’s eyes widened at the sight of the weed.
“You wanna?”
“Holy shit! Put that thing away!” Isak said, grabbing at Even’s hands. “There
are still teachers in there!”
Instead of doing anything of the sort, Even smiled. Isak quit fumbling and
looked up at him. Even’s smile rooted him to the spot. In an Even-Smile-o-
Meter, this one had to rank near the top. It was so wide that his eyes had
turned into bright little slits.
A beat passed and Isak realized he was still holding Even’s hands in his. He
immediately felt his cheeks heating up and looked down. Even’s face had lost
some of the megawattage and he was now contently smiling at Isak. “So, no
smoking up?”
“No smoking up,” Isak agreed. “What the fuck, didn’t you read the student
handbook? You can get suspended permanently if they catch you with weed in
school grounds.”
“Worth it,” Even shrugged, but he did put the joint away.
Isak had to laugh. What Even had done was so, so stupid, but he couldn’t help
but find him charming, anyway. He was too handsome. “You dumbass. There are a
million places where you can toke up and still get to graduate.”
“So I’m a dumbass now?” Even asked, in a tone that suggested Isak had
complimented him.
“The biggest,” Isak confirmed.
“So, what does that make you, the person who hangs out with the dumbass?” Even
said, knocking his shoulder against Isak’s.
“Oh, it has no effect on me whatsoever. No, because I already hang out with
Magnus,” Isak said, smirking at Even. “In fact, I’m actively gracing your lives
with my presence.”
“Yeah? Your intelligence is gonna rub off on us?” Even teased. Isak had been
fiercely nodding, but he became speechless at Even’s innuendo.
That was the sort of thing he’d heard his bros and teammates and guys in
general tell girls. But there was no way Even meant it like that, did he? Maybe
it was simply locker room talk. It just felt out of place because they weren’t
at the locker room right now, or even shared one as a general rule.
Isak was trying to formulate a response, but thankfully he was saved from that
particular endeavor when Eskild’s car came to a stop in front of them. He
rolled down his window and stuck his head out. “Hi, my little child. Are you
ready to go?”
“That your dad?” Even asked, amused. It was obvious this college student was
not anyone’s father.
Isak rolled his eyes. “Nope, just my ride.” He patted his pockets to check
phone, keys and wallet were all safe, and jumped off.
“Hey, Isak,” Even called. Isak turned around, thinking he might’ve dropped
something. “See you next week.”
Isak smiled. Okay, so he did come off as an uptight piece of shit, probably.
But Even was not taking it personally, at least. “Yeah,” he said through a
cough. “See you,” he said, before turning back to walk around to the passenger
door.
***** CHAPTER 2. Oct 24, 2015 10:17 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/3EGFEZo.png]
                          Bitch better have my money
                                   10:17 AM
Noora
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead
Wikipedia
Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday
celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South
regions, and acknowledged around the world in other cultures.
The holiday focuses on gatherings of fa…
Vilde
Noora, we already had a vote
Noora
I know
But we can still change our minds right?
Chris
I wanna go to Mari’s party
Pleeeeeeease, Noora
Noora
Eva?
Eva
I want to go too
Everyone’s going to be there
Sorry, Noora
                                             No one in the club is even mexican
Noora
Yo hablo español
I studied in Spain last year
                                                                       No Noora
Vilde
So are we decided?
Chris
Yep
Vilde
Yay! We should talk about group costumes
I think it’d be super cute if we went as a group
We could go as disney princesses
Eva
Vilde, the party is next week
                                                The boys will never go for that
                                                                Too much effort
                                        And like Eva said, cutting it too close
Chris
Troll dolls?
Vilde
Ew, those aren’t cute at all
                                         The boys will never go for that either
Noora
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Peaks
Wikipedia
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by
Mark Frost and David Lynch. It follows an investigation headed
by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) into the
murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Shery…
Twin Peaks group costume?
Vilde
Homecoming queen?
That sounds fun
Noora, I googled it and it just sounds really weird
Eva
Yeah I don’t get it
You’re too sophisticated for us I think
                                         I don’t think that people would get it
                And some of the costumes look too complicated to make in a week
                                            We want something like harry potter
                                                                     But easier
Chris
I like Harry Potter
Let’s do it
Vilde
YES!
                                            No there are too many things to buy
                                                            A uniform, patches…
                                                               Cloaks and wands
                                     That’s a lot of money on such short notice
Eva
You’re right
Although Jonas would make a great Harry I think
WAIT
I got it
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grease:_Live
Wikipedia
Grease: Live
Grease Live is an upcoming live production of the musical Grease
(1971), scheduled to air on Fox in 2016.[1]
We only need to get pink ladies jackets for the girls
Leather jackets for the boys
And then wear all black
Chris
Julianne Hough?
Eva
She’s a great dancer
                                                                 Good idea, Eva
                            We may have to get the jackets on etsy or something
                                           But the boys can just go to goodwill
Vilde
Yes!
I already made a group chat for the club
I’ll ask who else wants to get jackets
It would be SO cool if we could get a group discount!
***** Oct 25, 2015 14:47 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/833lhtp.png]
It was the first time Noora had come over to Eva’s place since the party, and
also the first time she was over by herself. They’d agreed to meet up at Eva’s
after lunch, and Eva had been possessed by a rush of nervous energy. Noora was
constantly invited to things not just by Mari, but other people at school, both
boys and girls. Everyone wanted a piece of her. She hadn’t even hung out with
Noora alone yet, but as a group with the rest of their friends. The idea that
Noora would ask to do things with Eva and find her dorky or lame killed her.
She’d taken stock of her room, studying it critically, the way a stranger
would. She still thought it was cool, but maybe devoid of substance. Did she
even listen to enough Nirvana to merit having a Kurt Cobain poster? And there
were one too many landscapes.
Kneeling down by the bed, she pulled out a box that had some stuff she’d been
given through the years. Most of it were gifts she’d gotten from relatives she
barely ever saw, and who consequently missed the mark when it came to her
interests. Some presents she’d exchanged with Sara and Ingrid, back in the day.
But she also stored things that Jonas had given her. For her last birthday,
he’d gotten her something she thought would do the trick.
She pulled out a folded piece of fabric, which she threw open over her
comforter. It was a purple flag, with a raised fist inside a female sign, both
in black. Eva was pretty sure it was supposed to be a feminist flag.
She ran her fingers over the flag and noticed with satisfaction that the
creases disappeared when she smoothed them with her palm. She’d been
considering actually ironing the fabric, so that it wouldn’t look like she’d
just hung it up, but worried that’d push her onto desperate territory.
One of the landscapes would go down, and the flag would take its place.
By the time Eva guided Noora downstairs, she’d put up the flag, moved her
laundry to the washing machine, and made snacks. After Eva set the tray down on
her desk, they moved to the closet.
“You can pretty much wear anything. It doesn’t even have to be black, that’s
just her outfit at the end of the movie. A three quarter sleeve sweater and
skinny jeans wouldn’t be out of place, or a shirt and a pencil skirt,” Eva
said, pulling out items of clothing as she went. Noora had asked for help with
her Grease costume. Apparently she hadn’t brought all of her clothing, as it’d
have been impossible to fit all her stuff in a suitcase and a carry-on.
Eva was more of a sweater dress girl, herself. She didn’t think she even owned
a pencil skirt and she was also convinced that her clothes were going to be too
big on Noora, but there was something exciting about Noora having asked her,
and not anyone else.
Before she could ponder over Noora’s body in comparison to her own any longer,
Noora grabbed a hanger with a mustard, off-shoulder sweater. “I have a top like
this, in white, but I didn’t bring it.”
“You can have it if you want,” Eva said.
“That’s really nice of you, Eva.”
Eva had been about to tell her she could try the sweater on to see if it fit
her, but Noora quickly folded it over her crossed arms and dropped on her bed.
She was sitting up very straight and looking up at Eva, which she took to mean
they were done going through her closet.
“Your place is so different from my host family's,” Noora said, with a sigh.
“The Magnussons?” Eva tried, collecting the hangers she'd pulled out and
sticking them back in place again.
“Yeah.”
Eva walked over to her bed, and sat cross-legged on it, beside Noora. As she
did so, Noora pushed herself further onto Eva’s bed, so that they were facing
each other. “What’s it like over there?” Eva asked. “I’ve never been.”
“Oh, really? I guess I had gotten the impression that their house was a popular
hangout, from the way Vilde would talk about that guy, William.”
Eva laughed. “William was really popular, but he never hosted parties. They’d
always host parties at his best friend Chris’ house.”
“That makes sense,” Noora said, picking at Eva’s duvet.
Eva’s curiosity was now piqued. Her laugh had faded away into a smile, and it
was as she smiled that she tilted her body to seek Noora’s downcast eyes. Noora
smiled back.
“It’s not bad or anything. It’s just that my host mom is home a lot, so they
wouldn’t have the house to themselves to throw a party.” After saying that,
Noora smirked. “Especially if it was anything like the party you had here.”
“Ha! No, I guess not.” Eva leaned back, supporting her weight on one hand,
which made her knees knock against Noora’s. “So, they’re cool?”
“The dad is always at work. He doesn’t work in Iowa. He told me he’s a
stockbroker in New York.” Eva nodded. That was common knowledge in town. “So he
doesn’t even fly home most weekends. I’ve only met him a few times. He will
also work when he’s home, but then he’ll make plans to spend the day in Des
Moines. So he makes up for not being around.”
“And his mom is always at home?”
“Well, I don’t know what she does when I’m at school. So maybe she’s really
busy in the mornings, and that’s why she wants to be at home the rest of the
time. But she’s very nice. She’s very friendly. She likes hosting exchange
students—she said so.”
“They’ve been hosting students for a few years now.”
Noora nodded. “Yeah, they’ve shown me some of the pictures that the other
students gave them before the year was up.”
Eva hummed in agreement. She didn’t have much to say on the subject of the
Magnussons’ exchange students. She’d never really hung out with any of them.
She glanced at her mustard top on Noora’s side. Before she said anything, Noora
continued. “They all seem like they were really nice girls. At least, from what
I can tell. I never met them, obviously.”
“Me neither,” Eva said.
“But that boy, Jonas, he has?”
Eva smiled, perplexed. “What do you mean?”
“It’s just, I’ve been thinking about what he said last week.” At Eva’s
uninterrupted look of confusion, Noora went on, “When we came up to him and his
friends and talked to them about joining our club.”
Eva thought back. Her talk with Jonas at the skate park had done much to make
her forget about the tension-laden meeting by the bench. Then, Jonas had gone
ahead and, not only had he joined the International Club, but he’d managed to
get his bros to join—a feat that, Eva knew, would require Jonas to owe a couple
favors.
She was feeling fairly positively about Jonas, all in all. But Noora was
clearly not over their confrontation. And now Eva remembered that Noora had
tried to defend her, only for Jonas to brush her off. “Right, uh. He said
something rude about exchange students.”
“About Magnusson exchange students, specifically. He said he wouldn’t take
advice from the likes of me, or should I say, us?” Noora explained, and her
back got even straighter. With her chin raised and a pout on her face, she
looked so uncomfortable that Eva was getting upset too. “I guess I expected
that I’d start the year as a blank slate, but the more people talk about the
Magnusson family, the more it feels like some people already have an idea of
what I’m like or how I act.”
“But that’s not really a bad thing!” Eva protested as she reached out to rub
Noora’s arm, eager to cheer her up. “You get us invited to parties all the
time, for instance!”
“Do Magnusson exchange students like parties, or are they supposed to?”
“Everybody likes parties, don’t they? Hell, even Sana likes parties, and she
won’t drink or hook up.”
Noora sighed, deflated. “Point.” She looked up at Eva. “I guess I just want to
know what Jonas meant by that.”
Eva sat back and let out a sigh of her own. She hated this topic. She’d never
actually talked to any of those girls, and was going off only on their
reputation at school. As it was, she didn’t think Jonas was serious when he
said he’d never take advice from a Magnusson exchange student. It was a side
effect of confronting him about their private business while flanked by her
girlfriends. No one liked being put on the spot like that.
“Well?” Noora pressed, and now she was the one touching Eva. She shook Eva’s
knee to get her attention.
“Well . . . Okay. It’s just so happened that the other girls the Magnussons
have hosted were a lot like William in personality. Or, at least, they gave off
that vibe. And a lot of people at school liked William. They still like him!
But other people, like Jonas, didn’t as much.”
“What was their vibe?”
“They looked haughty, kinda. They would only ever hang out with William’s or
Maria’s gangs. Maria also graduated last year. And she was actually a nice
person! Maybe a little harsh, though. Anyway, William slept with basically any
girl who showed some interest. But he’d only sleep with them once, and move on.
It could be really heart-breaking and sad if you’d gotten invested in him. For
whatever reason though, William slept with most, if not all, the exchange
students, more than once. So that contributed to the idea that they all must
have similar personalities. Like, none of them thought it meant anything.”
There. Eva hoped that answered all of Noora’s questions.
Noora ran her hand over the mustard top a few times, thinking to herself.
Finally, she spoke. “William sounds like a real asshole.”
Eva laughed. “He’s a fuckboy. All of his friends were.”
“No, but, it makes me really mad that he’d have sex with all those girls and
dump them right after. I don’t want people to think I’d want anything to do
with someone like that.”
“It’s going to be different for you. Both William and Maria have graduated.
Even if you go to Mari’s parties, her vibe is different from theirs. So maybe
that idea will go away.”
“I’m only going to Mari’s parties because you girls really want to go! I just
want to hang out with you.”
Eva smiled, touched. “Then, you’ll definitely change the idea of what Magnusson
exchange students are like.”
***** Oct 26, 2015 10:39 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/wDQQldU.png]
Mahdi was back in homeroom, but Sara had asked Peder to switch seats with her.
Isak considered the merits of a boycott against homeroom teachers with flexible
seating charts.
It seemed like Sara had decided that whatever grudge she and Ingrid had been
holding over the Eva drama was now forgotten. It was either that, or she was
bored out of her mind because none of her friends shared homeroom with her.
“You know, I didn’t take Vilde’s club for your scene,” she said, her body fully
turned to him in her seat.
Isak hadn’t thought he was going to stick with it, either. But he was still
feeling a little warm on the cheeks whenever he thought back to him and Even
all but holding hands in his bench last Friday, so he figured there was yet
more fun to extract from the club meetings and such. Just last Saturday, Even
had asked on the group chat whether it was obligatory for the boys to dress up
as T-Birds, or it was okay as long as he stuck to the Grease theme. It prompted
a few hours of giddy rolling around in bed, crowing to himself about what a
huge nerd Even was.
“Whatever. It’ll look good on my college apps,” he said, instead. Sara raised
an eyebrow at that, but let it go.
“Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. Since the football team
is suspended until next year,” and there she leaned forward on the table to
address Mahdi, “Sorry, but it’s the truth!”
“Don’t worry about me,” said Mahdi, rolling his eyes.
“Well, we’re sticking with the soccer team through the season and then
playoffs. I know we’re coming late, but I know that we’re all really excited to
cheer for you. You’ve had a great season. So I just want to ask, whether
there’s something we can do that would boost the team’s spirit.”
“I have literally given zero thought to this, Sara. It’s not like I expected
cheerleaders when I got into soccer.”
“I know!” Isak hoped that she didn’t, in fact, know. The stress of acting
convincing while they dated had taken a couple years off his lifespan,
probably. “But we’re hoping to get you thinking about it, as well as the rest
of the team.”
If Isak wanted for anything from the pep squad, it was for, well, Even. And
that was it. Just more Even. He doubted that was something he could request. As
it was, he was already feeling a little weird about such thoughts. What if Even
was actually a huge football fan and this whole thing was getting on his
nerves. “And you guys are all on board with cheering on us?”
“Yes, we had a meeting last week. I couldn’t even finish my Powerpoint;
everyone was already brainstorming cheers and coming up with moves that suggest
soccer moves.”
As much as he was sure the squad had just wanted to be done with Sara’s
presentation, it did make Isak feel better. It sounded like no one was being
forced to cheer for his team. Or at least, they didn’t care enough about who
they were cheering for to protest.
***** Oct 28, 2015 11:37 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/3EGFEZo.png]
Vilde had her last period before lunch on the opposite end of the school. Sana
forewent her usual visit to her locker, so Vilde wouldn’t have to wait as long.
Last semester, Vilde had taken William’s rejection hard, and all of a sudden
started missing lunch. Chris swore Vilde wasn’t upset at any of them, nor was
she avoiding them out of fear they were upset at her. But that was all she
knew. Sana didn’t like the change in Vilde’s behavior a single bit, so she once
faked a drop in blood pressure to be allowed to get out of class early. Then
she’d stationed herself beside the door to Vilde’s class, just out of sight.
When she realized Vilde was spending her lunch period in the school gym,
running on the treadmill, her heart got stuck in her throat. She’d let Vilde
down. Sana prided herself in being observant, in seeing past bullshit, but she
hadn’t noticed this.
She’d had to look stuff up online—she’d never dealt with anything like that
before. Soon she was bringing homemade green juices to school and claiming she
was too full to eat them, and wouldn’t Vilde take them? It wasn’t optimal, she
knew from her own training that it was best to just eat vegetables. But, seeing
as Vilde had access to the internet herself, perhaps she agreed to take them
because she thought they weren’t as nutritious, and thus, fattening.
Vilde had been doing much better this semester, Sana was proud to have noted.
They’d met up to eat lunch by themselves a few times since school was back in
session, mostly to discuss prom plans and ways to get popular quick. Vilde’s
tremendous interest in both subjects was what initially got Sana’s attention.
The way Sana saw it, Vilde was arranging for all her friends to belong
somewhere, specifically with each other. She was happy to lend her assistance
to attain that goal.
She could see Vilde as she neared her, holding her books on one hand and her
phone on the other. Vilde then looked up and gave Sana a huge, bright smile.
“Hi!”
“How was Algebra 2?” Sana asked.
Vilde gave Sana a betrayed look, which made her laugh. “Okay, moving on.”
“I am so looking forward to the party this Friday. Did you see that Eva got a
text saying the jackets have been delivered to her place?” Vilde said, smile
back in place.
Sana nodded. “I asked Eva if we could go check them out after school.”
Vilde’s face fell. “Oh, I can’t come, I have work today.”
“I’ll text you pictures of everything. Do you want me to bring your jacket to
school tomorrow?”
“Yes! That’d be great. Thanks, Sana.”
They stopped just outside the school gym, a quiet corridor away from all the
school entrances that, as a result, didn’t see much foot traffic. At first,
Sana had been worried that Vilde’s choice of intimate lunch spot would trigger
a relapse, but Vilde had told her she liked the warmth coming from the windows
at this time of day. So they sat on the floor opposite them, as usual.
Vilde had brought bean and rice burritos, but, because it was Vilde, she
proceeded to carefully slice them with knife and fork. “I think we should meet
up at Eva’s or Chris’ before we drive to the party. That way we can do our hair
and makeup. I’ve been looking tutorials on Youtube, so that we really look like
we’re from the 50s. We’re definitely going to need curlers,” she said, in
between bites. “Are you going to wear a wig this year? Sana?”
“Hm?”
“Remember last year? You dressed up as me, and you put on a wig over your
hijab.”
“Oh.” Sana hadn’t thought of last year’s costume in a while. That was back when
she and Vilde were still getting to know each other. Sana had quickly figured
out that Vilde didn’t have a lot of self-respect, although at the same time,
Vilde would often assume the most offensive shit about Sana’s beliefs. Sana had
put a lot of mixed feelings into her costume, but the desire to make Vilde feel
that she was Sana’s role model in some ways had come out on top. She hoped as
much, anyway. “No, I’ll wear a hijab and be a Muslim Pink Lady.”
Vilde giggled. “I don't mind if you want to wear a wig like my hair this year,
too.” She was smiling. Not her usual huge, toothy smile, but a smaller one.
Sana couldn't decide whether Vilde was encouraging her to wear that wig, or was
masking a year old hurt. It was hard to tell with Vilde, sometimes. She always
dusted herself off and kept going, but it meant that sometimes she just would
not admit to being upset.
“I'm not wearing a wig, but if you want to, you can do my makeup.”
Such a prospect may have been too exciting for Vilde. She gasped in delight,
her eyes wide.
“And I wanted to ask you something, so can we exchange intel for makeup?”
“Of course,” Vilde immediately nodded, although as much as Sana had tried to
keep it casual, her friend had noticed a shift in the conversation. Sana could
tell she sounded a little guarded.
“Well, I know that I asked you and Eva to hint at you hooking up with the
guys,” Sana started. She felt so damn awkward, which was a rare attitude for
her to be putting forward. “I don't want you to feel like you have to do it
just because they ended up joining the club.”
Vilde's smile was now unreservedly happy. It was one of her trademarked Vilde
smiles. “Sana!” She said, as if she'd just seen Sana for the first time in
years. “You've been worrying about me and Magnus?”
In all truth, Sana had not been worrying about Magnus in the slightest. “I just
don't want you to do something you don't want to do, Vilde. You only started
talking about him because of the club and I know I can sound like things have
to be done.”
“Sana, it's fine,” Vilde said, leaning in and patting Sana’s hand. “I really do
like him.”
Sana searched Vilde’s face, her smile, for the usual signs of determination and
fakery. But, from such a close distance, she didn't notice any. “Do you?”
“Yes. Nothing has happened between us yet, but I hope that he says something
soon.”
Sana smiled, as happiness for her friend spread through her body. “Okay. Then
he'd better get a move on.”
Vilde let out a tiny, excited squeal. ”Yes! I can't wait!”
***** Oct 30, 2015 21:25 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/wDQQldU.png]
Hartvig Nissen was only a ten minute car ride away from Ames, but on a night
like this, Isak thought, the distance felt much longer. For instance, out in
Mari’s neighborhood, street lights were sparse enough that they didn’t hide the
stars in the sky.
He was only one out of a handful who was out in the backyard. But, since
everyone else was chilling out beneath the gazebo, he might as well have been
alone with his beer, sitting on the bench by the toolshed. It was cold, but
he’d worn a couple layers underneath the leather jacket, so he was ready to
stick it out there for a while longer.
This thing, going outside when the gang split up to go find a chick each, was
something he’d only started doing when junior year started. In sophomore year,
Sara had been an invisible bubble that had protected him even when she wasn’t
around. He couldn’t hook up with anyone else because he already had a
girlfriend. Once she’d broken things off, Isak had felt compelled to find hook
ups like all his other friends. But it was never just a weekend hook up.
Everyone knew each other at these parties. They all went to the same school. He
couldn’t avoid those girls when he was going to be seeing them on Monday.
Hartvig Nissen was only a ten minute ride away from Ames, but when you didn’t
have a car, it was a planet isolated from the wider solar system.
So he’d just stopped playing the game. Now, when Jonas went off to find Eva,
Magnus followed Vilde around, and Mahdi was making out with some girl the
second they turned their heads away, he just walked outside and got drunker.
He’d found that if he left a party looking purposeful, no one bothered
following him.
A knock on the toolshed wall by his head startled him out of his thoughts.
Well, he amended to himself, almost no one bothered.
“Did I scare you?” Even asked, leaning on the wall. He sounded amused.
Isak rolled his eyes. “I didn’t hear your footsteps on the grass,” and I wasn’t
expecting company, he didn’t add.
Even seemed to sense Isak’s annoyance was of the teasing kind, because he held
up his hand to reveal two large beer cans and eyed the empty space beside Isak
on the bench. “Yeah, go ahead,” Isak nodded, and scooted over from the center
of the bench to one corner.
As Even sat, Isak took in his appearance. He was wearing a pair of goggles like
a necklace, and a leather jacket whose sleeves had been torn off. He didn’t
understand how Even wasn’t freezing his ass off. Maybe he was so deep in the
sauce that he didn’t feel cold anymore.
“You like stargazing?” Even asked, nudging Isak.
Isak shrugged. “It’s something to do.”
Even nodded, as if understanding, but Isak couldn’t see how his answer could’ve
been less explanatory and more noncommittal. Even was probably trying to be
nice. He was good at that. Isak looked on as Even popped the tab off his can
and took a swig of beer, and he suddenly wanted to return the favor. To be nice
to Even back. “What about you?” Isak asked, just to keep the conversation
going.
“Just wondering what you were up to,” Even smiled.
The weather was biting at Isak’s cheeks, but he could still feel a blush
blooming on his face. Not for the first time, he thought back to Even’s flirty-
seeming comment from last Friday. He couldn’t think of any other time he’d had
some boy’s laser-focus attention on him like that. It felt kind of awesome, to
be honest. He looked back up at Even and saw that he was still looking back,
with a careful expression, as if he were expecting Isak to bolt like a wild
animal any second.
“I was probably in need of another beer, so thanks.”
“No problem,” said Even, and he moved a tiny bit closer. It was only an inch,
maybe not even that, but it made Isak look down where Even’s fingers settled
between their thighs.
Then he noticed Even’s arm was covered in goosebumps.
“Do you want to go inside and look for your jacket?”
“The T-Bird jacket?” Even asked.
Isak nodded.
Even bit his lip, and looked down at their feet, in thought. When he looked up,
he seemed embarrassed. “I don’t have it. I think I forgot it at home.”
Isak was going to ask how he could’ve been in such a rush as to forget
outerwear in November weather, he was going to offer his own jacket, he was
ready to keep the banter going, but Even was quicker. “Do you want to go to my
house, so we can get it?”
Isak’s body was faster than his brain. He was already swallowing a mouthful of
beer and setting the half-empty can on the bench before he thought through the
consequences. “You serious?” Even was pushing himself off the bench and
nodding. “Then let’s go.”
His mind was racing. It’s not like he was having lots of fun at the party, so
he didn’t give a shit about leaving to go fetch a damn jacket. He probably
should let his friends know he was bailing, though. The party still had a
couple hours before Mari’s neighbors started thinking of calling the cops. But
he didn’t know how to explain he was going off with a guy. “He forgot his
jacket at home” sounded ridiculous to his own ears, and he was sure he wouldn’t
be able to just casually say it. At it was, he was probably overthinking this
shit and there was nothing weird about checking out for, like, forty minutes,
tops. They’d be in and out. The only reason Even wanted him to tag along,
probably, was to make sure he wouldn’t get sidetracked and never come back.
Another part of Isak, which he tried to tamp down, was ecstatic at the thought
of spending some time alone with Even. They hadn’t even gotten in the car yet,
and it was already the best part of this evening. Just the thrill of openly
looking at Even’s retreating figure as he followed him out of Mari’s house and
into the street.
Once they were on the driveway, he walked side by side with Even.
“Are you okay to drive?”
“Yeah, I only had a couple beers.”
“No weed?” Isak smirked.
Even laughed. “Nope, not today.” Lifting his hand, he beeped his car key at a
red Venza nearby, and grinned at Isak as he opened the door for him.
“Thanks,” Isak said, faintly.
For the next few minutes, Isak felt he'd died and gone to heaven. He helped
Even pick a good radio station, told Even to go ahead and turn on the heater,
then noticed the way Even snuck glances at him as he became too hot in his
layers and wrestled off his leather jacket. He’d been so distracted, in fact,
that at first he thought he must’ve been seeing things when he glanced at the
road signs and saw they were reaching Riverbank town limits.
“Are you kidnapping me? Is that what this is?” he asked, but his tone betrayed
he didn’t actually care where they were going.
Even had been smiling as he drove, possibly making him the first driver Isak
had ever seen who retained his good mood behind the wheel. He turned to look at
Isak, and his grin got a touch wider. “How much do you think I could get for
you?”
“Zero dollars. This was a bad investment.”
“A bad investment,” Even trailed off. “But you said you were gracing me with
your presence. That’s gotta have a market price.”
“Sentimental value only,” Isak said, waving his hand up and down his body.
Even’s eyes tracked the movement, and they made eye contact for a second before
he turned his face back to the road.
“So you say I didn’t think this thing through?” Even asked.
And that question was weirdly charged. All of a sudden, it was like Even
had—not admitted something, because admissions carried the implication of
unwillingness—he’d shared a truth with Isak. He’d done it indirectly and while
they were teasing each other, but something about Even’s voice told Isak Even
meant the question at face value.
He was still trying to figure out what to say, when Even pulled over. “Here we
are,” he said, turning off the ignition.
Isak looked around, turning his head this way and that to avoid the glare of
the light reflected off the window. Even had parked by the river, the Des
Moines river unless they’d driven much farther than Isak thought. It was dark
and quiet. The car was isolated from the main road by the thick forest growing
in the river bank. He had no idea what they were doing here.
Obviously, Even didn’t share that confusion. Isak watched as he twisted his
body to get something from the backseat: a folded blanket. He put it on his lap
and then got the jacket Isak had tossed aside earlier. He offered it to him,
who took it wordlessly. Even grinned. “Come on, I wanna show you something.”
Then he just got out of the car.
Isak watched him go, still not sure what the big idea was-they’d meant to get
Even a jacket. Outside of the car, Even shook the blanket open and wrapped
himself in half of it, then sat against the hood.
Even looked at him as he gingerly shut the door and walked beside him. Out of
the car, the only sounds Isak could make out were the river flowing south and
owls calling to each other.
He held his arms out, as if to say here I am. He still had no idea what was
happening, but he was following Even’s lead.
“Did you want to show me something?” Isak asked.
Even nodded and looked up. “You can see the stars better out here.”
Isak followed Even’s eyes up to the sky. Even was right. As there were no
houses, and basically no lights around, they could see more stars than from
Mari’s backyard. Isak sat against the hood and buried his hands in his pockets.
At this moment, sitting beside Even in the middle of nowhere, it was as if both
Ames and Hartvig Nissen were as far away as the moon. Perhaps that was why he
felt like he could look back at Even and see this thing through.
“So, the jacket?” Isak tried.
Even smiled and shrugged. “Took a wrong turn, I think . . .”
“Not gonna lie, I noticed.” Isak murmured, his voice getting swallowed back in
his throat.
“Yeah? You should’ve mentioned it then.”
They were both whispering so much bullshit to each other. And Isak couldn’t get
enough of it. He wanted to keep the conversation going as long as he could.
He was looking straight at Even, which is how he noticed Even sliding just a
bit closer. Their shoulders were only a few inches apart, and at this point,
Isak’s thoughts started getting jumbled. He could barely control what he was
doing or saying anymore.
“Give me some of that blanket,” he demanded, reaching out for the half that was
hanging off Even’s shoulder. “It’s cold as balls.”
Even watched as Isak grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around his back, so
that their shoulders were now touching. Isak wasn’t even done adjusting the
blanket around his body, when Even stretched his arm and pulled on the wool. He
waited until Even got him wrapped up to Even’s satisfaction.
“Better?” Isak asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Yeah.” Even huffed a laugh, and they smiled at each other.
Isak’s heart was beating a mile a minute.
“Even?”
Even turned his face towards him. “Hm?” They were so fucking close.
“I’m sorry if I’ve been an asshole.”
Even didn’t answer. He gave Isak a onceover from a couple inches away, as if
Isak had said something groundbreaking and Even had to consider all the
implications. And then, Isak noticed Even’s eyes drop to his lips and back up.
Slowly, Even leaned in the rest of the way and pressed their mouths together.
Isak was taken by surprise even as each of Even’s small movements got branded
into his mind’s eye.
“You haven’t been an asshole at all,” Even whispered, his mouth curving into a
smile against Isak’s lips.
Isak could only smile in return. He fisted his hand into Even’s vest as well as
he could, and tilted his face up.
Even wrapped his hand over Isak’s fist. “I never thought you’d kiss me if you
knew who I was,” he said meekly.
“Huh?”
“It’s from Grease 2. You know, because I’m Cool Rider.”
Isak just stared and stared at Even. His heart had almost stopped for a second
there, afraid of what Even could’ve meant.
“What?” Even asked.
“I didn’t actually watch those movies, Even,” Isak laughed, relieved.
Their second kiss went much more smoothly.
***** Oct 31, 2015 13:49 *****
                       [https://i.imgur.com/wDQQldU.png]
                                Even Pep Squad
                                 Today 1:49 PM
how was your cat burglar act?
                                                                           Haha
                                            If you knew Eskild you’d understand
                  If he’d seen your car I’d still be up answering his questions
got it
so everything went fine then
                                                                           Yeah
                                    I just told them Magnus’ mom dropped me off
won’t he ask Magnus?
                                                                           fuck
                                                                     I hope not
                                    3:01 PM
                                                  Anyway, thanks for last night
❤
                                                Do you want to hang out tonight
                                                       If you’re free of course
shit
I really, really can’t
I have a thing with the squad and no way I can get out of it
***** Oct 31, 2015 17:18 *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
                       [https://i.imgur.com/833lhtp.png]
This Saturday was shaping up to be boring as fuck, as Saturdays went. None of
them knew of any party, since HOAs were being extra vigilant about anything
that may infringe on the fun of the elementary school kids. But it had been
Magnus’ birthday the day before, and he was determined to hang out with the
girls any way possible. Vilde had reminded them all that Magnus had passed his
driving test, and between his car and Eva’s, they had enough seats for both
squads.
So, for lack of anything else to do, they’d gone to North Grand Mall to stomp
up and down its length.
Eva was exasperated. She could’ve been at home, procrastinating on her
homework. It would’ve been preferable to playing spectator to Magnus and
Vilde’s over the top flirtation.
“Mahdi didn’t come?” she asked Jonas, as they followed Vilde and Magnus through
the corridors.
“Nah. Yesterday he hooked up with Oline and she invited him over,” Jonas
explained. “Apparently she finds the whole international club thing classy.”
Isak muttered under his breath something that sounded a hell of a lot like some
assholes get all the luck. However, when Jonas turned to him in question, Isak
just shrugged.
“What happened to you yesterday, anyway?” Jonas was undeterred. “You just
disappeared.”
“Got bored, hitched a ride home,” Isak said. He sounded like he’d been
expecting the question. Eva tried not to read anything into his delivery.
“You hitched a ride? I thought you didn’t do that anymore.” For his part, Jonas
had a way of saying things to Isak that made it amply obvious Jonas was
concerned, but wouldn’t push.
Indeed, Isak just let Jonas’ comment hang in the air. “Everything okay though?”
Jonas confirmed.
“Yeah,” Isak nodded.
Noora, who’d been at the back of their little parade with Sana and Chris,
caught up with them. “Can we get something to eat? I’m starving.”
There were agreements all around, and Eva called out to Vilde to check with
her.
“Sure, let’s do that! Has Noora been to Flame N’ Skewer yet?”
Noora stifled a smile. “My host mom took me here the first weekend after I
arrived, Vilde.”
Vilde looked crestfallen for a second, but then nodded. “A lady like Mrs.
Magnusson would come here all the time.”
Once at the restaurant, Magnus insisted on sitting next to Vilde. As far as Eva
could see, it was imperative for him that everything he had to say was
whispered to Vilde first. Vilde was having a really good time, though. Having
Magnus’ attention solely on her was getting her to giggle more than usual.
She’d shoot pleased glances at Eva and Sana, as if to make sure they were
seeing what was happening. Eva knew Vilde had taken William’s rejection hard,
and so, despite the way she and Magnus were all over each other, she was happy
for her friend. And, if she was fair, she and Jonas hadn’t acted all that
different.
“Can I steal you away for a moment?” Magnus asked, before desserts were served.
Vilde’s face broke into a slow, toothy smile. She turned to Sana. “Is it okay?”
Sana laughed. “It’s fine, Vilde. We’re not going anywhere.”
Vilde frowned. Apparently, Sana’s answer wasn’t sufficient. She told Magnus to
wait a second and walked over to Sana to have a quick, quiet chat. Vilde said
something to Sana, then made a show of looking at Magnus out of the corners of
her eyes while Sana looked at her. Sana shook her head and told Vilde that it
really was okay.
“Okay! We’ll be back soon!” Vilde chirped, as if the conversation with Sana
hadn’t taken place at all.
Once they were out of earhot, Eva leaned on the table and addressed Jonas and
Isak. “He’s going to ask her out, right?”
“He’d better,” Jonas said, his arms crossed. “We can only do this so many
times.”
“Seriously,” Isak, who seemed more irritated than usual, chimed in.
Chris cleared her throat at that point, and they all turned to look at her.
Wordlessly, she pointed towards the restrooms, in front of which Magnus and
Vilde were locked in what looked like a very tonguey kiss.
“Should we tell our server that it’s Vilde’s birthday?” Chris suggested.
“You know, she’d actually love that,” Sana said, approvingly.
“It’d be a better idea to tell her it’s Magnus’ birthday. That was yesterday,”
Jonas reminded them.
“Oh, shit, that’s right!” Chris looked embarrassed. “I totally forgot about
that. Maybe we should act like it’s both their birthdays.”
“It looks a little bit like it is, for both of them,” Noora pointed out, with a
smirk.
She had a point. When Vilde and Magnus made their way back to the table, Magnus
looked ecstatic, a smile stretching his lips up towards his ears. And Vilde was
like a kid on Christmas Day and he was her new toy. She kept playing with his
fingers and cuddling close to him.
Cake was definitely in order!
Chapter End Notes
     Happy Halloween! A couple of notes:
     1. Unfortunately, life caught up with me and I need to put af on
     hiatus while I write ahead. I really wanted to post the entirety of
     chapter 2 before I needed to do this, but it was not to be. :( Next
     update will be on a Friday, but I can't say which one.
     2. I love comments and chatting with people! Comments make my day.
     I'd love to get some more :D?
End Notes
     I will be updating on AOOO on Mondays and Fridays.
     For daily updates, you can either follow on Dreamwidth or the
     imported RSS feed on Tumblr.
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